MOSCOW, August 28. /TASS/. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov has remained tight-lipped about the exact number of Russian backup law enforcement officers that might be sent to Belarus if the situation deteriorates, noting that the number is "rather reasonable."

"It [the backup law enforcement unit] consists of three parts, which can halt extremist activity in the republic if an urgent need arises," Peskov told reporters on Friday. "I cannot say anything about the weapons; their number is rather reasonable," Peskov said when asked what the unit is armed with and how many officers form part of the unit.

Russian President Vladimir Putin hopes that Russia’s backup law enforcement units will not be used in Belarus, and that the situation in Minsk will not deteriorate, Peskov added.

"It is important to understand, and the president has stressed this, that this is a backup unit, there is no need to use it. President Putin hopes that it will never be used. And we hope that Belarus will not face such an urgent situation," the spokesman stated.

The spokesman expressed confidence that Russia’s readiness to send police units to Belarus would not affect the relations between both nations. "[It won’t affect it] in any way. Russia wasn’t and isn’t interfering with Belarusian affairs," he asserted.

However, Peskov did not say whether Russia would be ready to aid the Belarusian population if there was a surge of violence from the side of the local law enforcement. He dismissed such considerations as hypothetical. Peskov stressed that extremist activity from any side could represent a threat to the Belarusian people. The spokesman explained that the Belarusian government "is not engaged in extremist activity."

When asked when the law enforcement unit might be used, Peskov noted that Putin had explained this in an interview with Rossiya-1 TV channel. "Read the words of the president once again, <…> he said it. [We are talking about] a hypothetical threat of the situation getting out of control, when stability and existence of state governance bodies and people’s safety are jeopardized," the Kremlin official stated.

On Thursday, Putin said in an interview with Rossiya-1 TV channel that Moscow had agreed to form a backup law enforcement unit on Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko’s request. Putin said that the unit would not be used "unless extremist elements hiding behind political slogans cross certain lines," namely, unless they begin to "torch houses, banks and to try seizing administrative buildings."