KIEV: NATO expressed concern on Thursday over Russia’s troop deployment towards Ukraine’s northern border, in Belarus where the military exercises are set to commence from Feb 20.
Moscow describes the so-called Allied Resolve exercises as a rehearsal for repelling external aggression, primarily from NATO.
Alarm bells started ringing as soon as the Russian Defense Minister reached Belarus to inspect preparations for the planned exercises. During the visit, Sergei Shoigu will also meet Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said: “Over the last days, we have seen a significant movement of Russian military forces into Belarus.
“This is the biggest Russian deployment there since the Cold War, with an expected 30,000 combat troops” as well as Spetsnaz special operations forces, SU-35 fighter jets, S-400 air defense systems, and nuclear-capable Iskander missiles, he said.
Meanwhile, Russia accused the U.S. of ramping up tensions by its provocative actions such as the deployment of troops in Poland and Romania. The U.S. has reportedly sent 1,000 soldiers to Romania and 2,000 to Poland to bolster Nato’s eastern flank.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, in a video conference with reporters on Thursday, said: “It’s obvious that these are not steps aimed at de-escalating tensions, but on the contrary, they are actions that lead to increasing tension.”
“We constantly call on our American counterparts to stop aggravating tensions on the European continent. Unfortunately, the Americans continue to do so,” he added.
Washington termed the reinforcements “a tool to send a strong signal to Putin.” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby stressed the US troop movements were to demonstrate commitment to the NATO alliance, and that no US soldiers would be sent to fight in Ukraine.
President Joe Biden said on Wednesday: “As long as (President Vladimir Putin) is acting aggressively, we are going to make sure we reassure our NATO allies in eastern Europe that we’re there.”
Erdogan in Kiev
In a related development, the Turkish President who is on a visit to Kiev, said on Thursday that he intends to hold a Ukraine-Russia peace summit. This comes at the back of EU leaders’ extensive outreach to the Kremlin to defuse impending fears of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
The Turkish leader is looking to leverage his special relations with Putin and strong support for Kiev to set up a peace talk. Ukrainian Leader Zelensky thanked the President for the efforts and insisted he was “ready to do everything possible in all platforms and in all formats” to bring peace to Ukraine.
Turkey is also in talks with Kiev to supply combat drones — and the two sides on Thursday inked a fresh deal aimed at expanding drone production in Ukraine.
