Ukraine’s Attache in Minsk to visit Russia-Belarus drills to deescalate tensions, – Ministry of Defense

Photo kmr.gov.ua

February 14, Minister of Defense of Ukraine Oleksiy Reznikov held talks with Minister of Defense of Belarus Viktor Khrenin. They agreed that the attache for the defense of Ukraine in Belarus would visit the military drills, held together with Russia on Belarus territory, official Kyiv informed.

“Oleksiy Reznikov informed his Belarusian counterpart about the progress of the Zametil 2022 World Cup, emphasizing their defensive nature. In order to strengthen mutual trust, the visit of the Defense Attaché of the Republic of Belarus to Ukraine to the exercise “Blizzard- 2022” and the visit of the Defense Attaché of Ukraine to the Republic of Belarus to the Belarusian-Russian exercise “Allied Determination – 2022,” reads the report.

February 10, Ukraine’s Armed Forces began the Blizzard 2022 command and staff drills in various regions. The exercises are a planned event within the general intensive program for troop training. The drills come at the same time as Russian and Belarusian armed forces began large-scale training in Belarus using heavy military hardware, which is set to continue till February 20.

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February 10, large-scale exercises of the Russian and Belarusian armies with the use of heavy military equipment began in Belarus. Ukraine’s Western partners fear that Russia could use these exercises as a pretext to attack Ukraine. The drills are expected to end on February 20. Russia has repeatedly denied any plans to invade Ukraine despite massing more than 100,000 troops at the border. At the same time, Russia is conducting training in the Voronezh region and plans to conduct drills in the Rostov region, which borders Ukraine. It is also reported that the Russian-occupied territories of Donbas and Crimea will be reinforced.

Read also: Ukraine begins Blizzard-2022 defense drills