Russian troop buildup in Belarus a ‘big concern’ for US and European officials
US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield said earlier this week that Russia had moved nearly 5,000 troops to Belarus, along with short-range ballistic missiles, special forces and anti-aircraft batteries, with intended to muster more than 30,000 soldiers. near that country’s border with Ukraine.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Thursday that Moscow’s deployment to Belarus is the largest since the Cold War, with “30,000 troops expected, Spetsnaz special operations forces, fighter jets, including SU-35s, Iskander dual-capability missiles and S-400 aircraft. defense systems. »
A European diplomat called the gathering of forces a “big, big worry”, noting that it would be the missing piece Moscow would need to launch a swift attack on the Ukrainian capital of Kiev, less than two hours from the border of the Belarus. .
On Thursday, a senior State Department official spoke with the Belarusian foreign minister “about the worrying increase in Russian troops in Belarus”, and warned that Minsk would face serious consequences if it allowed the use of its territory to launch an invasion of neighboring Ukraine.
According to the US State Department, Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Karen Donfried “reiterated her concern about Russia’s announced plan to bring 30,000 troops to Belarus for military exercises, particularly with more than 100,000 soldiers already stationed on the Russian-Ukrainian border”.
“Deputy Secretary Donfried also emphasized that Belarus would face consequences equivalent to those of Russia if it were part of a plan to further invade Ukraine,” the Department said.
Belarusian and Russian officials have said they will conduct joint military exercises this month. Russia’s ambassador to the European Union, Vladimir Chizhov, told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour on Thursday that he “sees no reason why these exercises, which were previously announced and will go ahead as planned, should be a source of concern for anyone.”
Estonia’s Ambassador to the United States, Kristjan Prikk, told CNN on Thursday that he thought it was “highly likely” that Russia could use the drills as a pretext to leave “a large military contingent” in Belarus. .
“They can rotate that contingent, not make it permanent, but it’s possible they’ll stay there. And that’s something that significantly changes the kind of defense reckoning in our region,” he said. declared.
Prikk also noted that Russia’s deployment of troops and equipment to Belarus “serves a dual purpose.” He noted that the southern part of Belarus offers Russia “suitable transit ground” to threaten and potentially attack Ukraine, noting that Russia “can even threaten and attack Ukraine without crossing the border from Belarus. “.
“With the air defense assets they have deployed, the S-400 air defense missiles, and with the artillery and the missiles…and the long-range artillery, they can, in fact, threaten Kiev and some of Belarus’ major vital infrastructure,” he said.
He also noted that the other objective “is to signal the West, NATO and exert some military coercion on NATO by having Russian troops in large numbers just across the eastern border. of NATO, in the border areas of Latvia, Lithuania and Poland”.
Another European diplomat told CNN they find the buildup very concerning, both in terms of what it could mean for Ukraine, but as a broader reflection on the fact that the United States and the Europe “have underestimated, if not largely ignored, the strategic and military consequences of Russia’s de facto political and military takeover of Belarus, underway since 2020 and in the process of being finalized, with their exercise spouse as a highly symbolic coronation.”