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Diplomat says Russia, Belarus hold drills to discourage potential escalation

According to Alexey Polishchuk, combat coordination, drills and maneuvers are now conducted

MOSCOW, January 13. /TASS/. The joint drills of Russia and Belarus are defensive in nature and are intended to discourage potential adversaries from escalation and provocations, director of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Second CIS Department Alexey Polishchuk told TASS in an interview.

He noted that under the current military and political situation, additional contingents of the joint Russian-Belarusian regional group of troops have been deployed on the Belarusian territory since last year’s October. According to Polishchuk, combat coordination, drills and maneuvers are now conducted. "They are defensive in nature, aimed at ensuring the security of the Union State and are supposed to discourage our potential adversaries from escalation and provocations. We have a full understanding with our Belarusian allies on this issue," the diplomat stressed.

On October 10, 2022, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko announced the beginning of formation of a regional group of troops under agreements with Russia. The country's President Vladimir Putin said after the talks with Lukashenko in the Belarusian capital on December 19 that Moscow and Minsk would continue joint drills and other military training activities, including those within the framework of regional group of troops. In early January, the Belarusian Defense Ministry said that the group continued to build up and that it was ready to carry out tasks to protect the Union State.