MOSCOW, August 28. /TASS/. Moscow believes that Kiev’s demand for Minsk to withdraw troops from the Belarus-Ukraine border is unacceptable, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said at a briefing.
"No one in their right mind will take seriously the Kiev regime’s assurances that it has no plans to - as they said - take unfriendly steps against the Belarusian people. The reason is that Western politicians keep inciting the Ukrainian junta to carry out strikes not only on Russia but also on Belarus," she pointed out. "It’s because by strengthening the border with the neo-Nazi Ukraine, our Belarusian allies are faithfully implementing their obligation to prevent attacks from behind on Russia. We highly appreciate it and believe that the illegitimate Zelensky regime’s demarche against Minsk was unacceptable and detached from reality," Zakharova noted.
The diplomat stressed that Minsk had drawn "the right conclusions from Ukrainian Banderites’ attack on Russia’s Kursk Region." "I think everything has become clear even to those skeptical about our warnings. It was a clear demonstration of the evil nature of the Kiev clique and its inclination towards escapades, including military and terrorist ones," she said.
"When making their evil plans, Kiev officials must have realized that the Ukrainian army’s situation on the frontlines was getting worse day by day, and decided to resort to their favorite method, throwing a tantrum in public to draw the international community’s attention," Zakharova added.
On August 25, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry issued a statement saying that Belarus was deploying troops, tanks, artillery weapons, air defenses and multiple rocket launchers in the Gomel Region on the border with Ukraine under the guise of military drills. Kiev called on Minsk to abandon unfriendly actions and withdraw troops from the border.
Meanwhile, Belarus is not holding military exercises near the Ukrainian border. President Alexander Lukashenko said on August 10 that several drones heading towards Russia from Ukraine had been downed over Belarus. In this regard, the Belarusian leader ordered the reinforcement of troops on the Ukrainian border.