In the midst of the Ukraine crisis Russia and Belarus are planning joint military maneuvers for February. According to the state news agency Belta, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko asked his defense minister to set an exact date. “We planned to start exercises in February,” Belta quoted the president as saying on Monday. “Set an exact date and let us know, lest we be accused of pulling together some soldiers out of the blue, as if we were preparing for war.”
Lukashenko was referring to warnings from Western countries and Ukraine, Russia has massed troops on the border with Ukraine and is planning an invasion. The government in Moscow has repeatedly denied such plans. Belarus is a close ally of its direct neighbor Russia. Belarus also borders Ukraine and the EU states and NATO members Poland, Lithuania and Latvia.