Russia and Belarus deploy join regional group of troops

Presidents of Russia and Belarus Vladimir Putin and Alexander Lukashenko have agreed to deploy a joint regional group of troops.

"In connection with the aggravation on the western borders of the Union State, we agreed to deploy a regional grouping of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus. It's all according to our documents. If the level of threat reaches the current level as it is now we will proceed to get the Union State grouping involved,” Belarusian President Lukashenko said.

The formation of the group of troops began two days ago, he added.

"You do not count on a large number of Russian troops, but it will not be just one thousand people. You need to be prepared to accommodate those people in the near future, according to our plan, without escalating the situation,” Lukashenko continued.

The President of Belarus stated that the situation around the republic was remaining tense, whereas the West keeps propagating the idea that the army of Belarus will directly participate in the special military operation on the territory of Ukraine. Against this background, the leadership of NATO and a number of European countries openly consider options to attack Belarus, including with the use of nuclear weapons, he said.

According to the president, the main goal of the West is to get Minsk involved in the war and "deal with Russia and Belarus."

Belarus is preparing to repel possible attacks from Ukraine, Poland or the Baltic states, Alexei Dzermant, the director of the Northern Eurasia Center for the Development of Continental Integration (Minsk) said in an interview with Pravda.Ru.

According to the expert, Kyiv has demonstrated aggressive actions and rhetoric in relation to Minsk lately.

"In fact, it is the Belarusian army that is being deployed. It will be reinforced with Russian units and weapons to carry out any combat missions. We are preparing to repel a possible attack either on the part of Ukraine or the West (Poland and the Baltic states). Parts of the army of the Russian Federation and Belarus in the nearby territories are being brought to a state of combat readiness," the political scientist said.

The Belarusian military do not enter Ukrainian lands — Belarus is only preparing to protect its settlements.