Ukraine will be ready if the Belarusian Armed Forces joins Russia’s war effort in the country, a spokesperson for the State Border Service of Ukraine said on Wednesday.
Belarus, a close ally of Russia, said it began large-scale exercises Wednesday to test its military’s combat readiness and did not pose any threat to its neighbors.
“We do not exclude that the Russian Federation may at some point use the territory of Belarus, which is the Armed Forces of the Republic of Belarus, against Ukraine,” said Andriy Demchenko, spokesman for the State Border Service of Ukraine.
He added that the border with Belarus has been strengthened since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24.
Russia launched the invasion after holding joint exercises with Belarus, which allowed it to move forces closer to the Ukrainian border.
The parts of Ukraine adjacent to Belarus were attacked by Russia in the initial phase of the invasion, but Russian attacks are now concentrated in the eastern and southeastern parts of Ukraine.
Demchenko said Ukraine has also tightened its border with the Russian-backed Transnistria region, where tensions have escalated since local officials said it had faced a series of attacks.
Ukrainian officials have expressed concern over the situation in Transnistria, a separatist region of Moldova, and condemned what was said about Russia’s attempts to drag the region into Russia’s war against Ukraine. Moscow also expressed its concerns and said that it is closely following the developments in Transnistria.
US Ambassador to Moldova Kent Logsdon said on Wednesday that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and its attempts to redraw the map of Europe at gunpoint are of great concern worldwide.
However, according to Moldovan media reports, at a conference in Moldova, Washington said that he had no evidence that Moscow wanted to extend the war to Moldova, and that Russian President Vladimir Putin would lose the war.
* Additional reporting by Alexander Tanas in Chisinau
source: Noticias
