News Desk
Belarus and China kicked off 11-day joint military training exercises Monday, Belarus’ defense ministry said – with activities taking place just miles from the border of Poland, a NATO and European Union member.
According to Major General Vadim Denisenko of the Belarusian military, during the joint anti-terrorist training exercises known as “Attacking Falcon,” soldiers from both nations would at times “act together” as a single unit.
“We will work through all these moments here, taking into account everything that is new that has been learned in the last two years, because the world’s events and the situation are complex,” Denisenko stated. “We have studied new forms and methods of conducting warfare.”
The combined drills are taking place at a training area close to Brest, which is around 40 miles from Minsk’s border with Ukraine and on the border between Belarus and Poland. These occur at a time when geopolitical divisions have been sharpened and wider regional security is still threatened by Russia’s invasion of that nation more than two years ago.
Under the autocrats and ardent supporters of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Beijing and Minsk have been strengthening their diplomatic connections in recent years. These individuals include Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus.
The beginning of the counterterrorism drills was timed to coincide with Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, visiting Warsaw and signing a security pact with Donald Tusk, the prime minister of Poland.
Asylum seekers from third countries are being forced to Belarus’ borders, which NATO and the EU have long accused Belarus of weaponizing. Some will undoubtedly view the joint exercises as an additional provocation. NATO has been contacted by CNN for a response.
A vital Russian partner in the Kremlin’s conflict with Ukraine has been Belarus. After accumulating soldiers on the Ukrainian border during what it claimed to be collaborative military drills, Moscow partially exploited Belarus as a launching pad for the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
