NATO says Russia to have 30,000 troops on drills in Belarus, north of
Ukraine
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[February 03, 2022]
By Pavel Polityuk and Sabine Siebold
KYIV/BRUSSELS (Reuters) - NATO said Russia
had stepped up deployments to Ukraine's northern neighbour Belarus in
recent days and was expected to have 30,000 troops there for joint
military exercises this month.
The Russia-Belarus exercises, running until Feb. 20, have provided
Moscow with cover to further increase forces near Ukraine at a time when
the United States and Britain have warned that Moscow may be gearing up
for war.
Ukraine's defence minister said Russia had currently massed a total of
115,000 troops near Ukraine's borders.
Russia denies planning to invade Ukraine and has described the Allied
Resolve exercises with Belarus as a rehearsal in repelling external
aggression. It has not disclosed the size of its forces there but says
they will withdraw after the drills.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said: "Over the last days, we
have seen a significant movement of Russian military forces into
Belarus.
"This is the biggest Russian deployment there since the Cold War, with
an expected 30,000 combat troops" as well as Spetsnaz special operations
forces, SU-35 fighter jets, S-400 air defence systems and
nuclear-capable Iskander missiles, he said.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2022/Feb/03/images/ads/current/graue_sda_042021.png)
Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu arrived in Belarus on Thursday to
inspect Russian and Belarusian troops and was due to meet Belarusian
leader Alexander Lukashenko, Interfax news agency said.
The United States and NATO have rejected Russian demands to bar Ukraine
from joining NATO and withdraw allied forces and weapons systems from
eastern Europe, while expressing a willingness to talk about arms
control and confidence-building measures.
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![](../images/020322pics/news_r69.jpg)
Tanks ride during joint exercises of the armed forces of Russia and
Belarus as part of an inspection of the Union State's Response
Force, at a firing range in Belarus, in this still image from a
handout video released February 2, 2022. Russian Defence
Ministry/Handout via REUTERS
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2022/Feb/03/images/ads/current/lincolnheating_lda_LUAL_2021.png) Russian President Vladimir Putin
said on Tuesday the West had ignored Russia's main concerns and
accused the United States of trying to lure it into war, but he said
Russia was still interested in dialogue.
On Thursday the Kremlin again accused Washington of inflaming
tensions after the United States said it would send nearly 3,000
extra troops to Poland and Romania. The Pentagon said the aim was to
send a "strong signal" to Putin and the world that "NATO matters to
the United States and it matters to our allies".
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, who has offered to mediate between
Russia and Ukraine in the crisis, was due to visit Kyiv on Thursday.
Ukraine and Turkey will sign a framework agreement on manufacturing
Turkish drones in Ukraine, Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov told
reporters, in a move that is certain to annoy Moscow. Ukraine has
already deployed Turkish-made drones in a war with Russian-backed
separatists in east of the country.
Reznikov said the number of ceasefire violations in that conflict
had decreased and there had been no combat losses for the past three
weeks.
Ukraine was happy to shift the venue of peace talks on eastern
Ukraine to Istanbul or other Turkish cities following a suggestion
by Erdogan, but Russia has to agree, he said.
(Writing by Mark Trevelyan; Editing by Angus MacSwan)
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