Russian military ally Belarus will ask Moscow to deploy 12 to 15
warplanes on its territory in response to increased NATO activity near
its borders due to tension over Ukraine, President Alexander Lukashenko
said Wednesday.
The U.S. and Poland, Belarus’s western neighbour, began war games on Tuesday that are expected to involve at least 12 U.S. F-16 fighter jets. A joint naval exercise of U.S., Bulgarian and Romanian naval forces in the Black Sea started on Wednesday.
The drills were planned before the crisis in Ukraine but underscore support for NATO nations near Russia, which has taken control of Ukraine’s Crimea region and has warned it could invade to protect Russians there after the president’s ouster.
“We reacted calmly until large-scale exercises began … in Poland,” Lukashenko said. “There is a clear escalation of the situation near our borders.”
He said Belarus would ask Russia to send “no more than 12 to 15 planes”, indicating that the request had been made under a clause of a “union treaty” signed by Slavic nations after the Soviet Union’s collapse.
“Send them to Belarus, determine their patrol routes,” Lukashenko said. “Let them work, let them patrol.”
The Russian Defence Ministry could not immediately be reached for comment.
The U.S. and Poland, Belarus’s western neighbour, began war games on Tuesday that are expected to involve at least 12 U.S. F-16 fighter jets. A joint naval exercise of U.S., Bulgarian and Romanian naval forces in the Black Sea started on Wednesday.
The drills were planned before the crisis in Ukraine but underscore support for NATO nations near Russia, which has taken control of Ukraine’s Crimea region and has warned it could invade to protect Russians there after the president’s ouster.
“We reacted calmly until large-scale exercises began … in Poland,” Lukashenko said. “There is a clear escalation of the situation near our borders.”
He said Belarus would ask Russia to send “no more than 12 to 15 planes”, indicating that the request had been made under a clause of a “union treaty” signed by Slavic nations after the Soviet Union’s collapse.
“Send them to Belarus, determine their patrol routes,” Lukashenko said. “Let them work, let them patrol.”
The Russian Defence Ministry could not immediately be reached for comment.
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