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Russia, Belarus focusing more on joint military development, says top diplomat

According to Sergey Lavrov, in the context of the issue of European autonomy, discussions in the West "on the need to boost the number of US troops to conduct exercises on the European continent near Belarus, near Russia" emerged

MOSCOW, December 1. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko are paying greater attention to plans for joint military development, given ongoing provocations, especially from Ukraine, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told a press conference on European security issues.

"The Union State has military development plans, we have a joint grouping, and it has a land component, an air component, and our presidents are paying greater attention to this issue, given the ongoing provocations, particularly from Ukraine," Lavrov explained.

According to the Russian top diplomat, in the context of the issue of European autonomy, discussions in the West "on the need to boost the number of US troops to conduct exercises on the European continent near Belarus, near Russia" emerged. "And when reporters asked Mr. [Lloyd] Austin, who now heads the Pentagon, whether the US was moving its troops to Europe on a temporary basis or permanently, he replied without hesitating, in a Freudian manner, that Washington had not decided on that would be yet. He couldn't even think of saying, ‘Of course, we have to consult with our European allies’. This is the answer to the question of what kind of security we will have in Europe now," Russia’s chief diplomat stressed.