Russia may attack Ukraine from Belarus, US Department of State says - TASS

The upcoming joint Russian-Belarusian military exercises may allow Russia to attack Ukraine from the north, a senior US State Department official said at a briefing.

"The reports of Russian troop movements towards Belarus, which <...> are supposedly under the auspices of regularly scheduled joint military exercises, are concerning," she pointed out. "The timing is notable and of course raises concerns that Russia could intend to station troops in Belarus under the guise of joint military exercises in order potentially to attack Ukraine from the north. I believe Belarus’ complicity in such an attack would be completely unacceptable to Belarusians, and to many inside the regime, as well as to us and our allies and partners. And we've made our concerns known to the Belarusian authorities privately," the diplomat added.

According to her, a normal exercise requires notification 42 days in advance if it is about 9,000 troops, but at 13,000, it requires international observers. "That's what normal looks like, what this is is something entirely different," the official noted.

"There are many troubling things happening in Belarus right now. And there can be no doubt about Belarus his role as an increasingly destabilizing actor in the region," the senior Department of State official stressed...

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