European NATO nations openly ‘preparing for war’ – Belarusian defense minister

The US-led military bloc is building up its forces in Eastern Europe, Viktor Khrenin has said

The leaders of European NATO countries are making no secret of the fact that they are preparing for war against Russia and Belarus, Belarusian Defense Minister Viktor Khrenin has said.

The situation on Belarus’ western border is “tense, prone to radicalization and difficult,” the defense minister, who also holds the rank of lieutenant general, said in a televised interview on Friday, according to Belta news agency.

“The actions of the leaders of neighboring countries also indicate – and they don’t hide it – that preparations for war are underway,” Khrenin said. “They claim they are threatened by Russia and, of course, by Belarus. We have a Union State, and they will fight us.”

Poland, Germany, France and the Baltic states are all vying to militarize and create powerful armies, he added.

The European NATO nations’ recent commitment to allocate 5% of their GDP to their militaries “already suggests that this is a pre-war budget,” Khrenin said.

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The US-led military bloc has been upgrading ports and airfields near Belarus and ramping up drills and training, as well as creating new units and boosting the forward presence of its troops near the Russian and Belarusian borders, he asserted.

The deployment of nuclear-capable, medium-range Russian Oreshnik missiles in Belarus is a strategic deterrent against this, Khrenin said.

“This is our reaction to their aggression, aggressive actions, to their statement that they are going to war with us,” he said. “We say: there is no need, we don’t want to fight. Let’s negotiate.”

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On Thursday, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko was briefed on the deployment of the Oreshnik system in his country.

The missile system, armed with hypersonic IRBMs, will enter combat duty before the new year, Russian President Vladimir Putin said last week.

Moscow “has been seeking diplomatic resolutions to contradictions and conflicts as long as there is the slimmest hope of success,” Putin noted. Any lost chances are the responsibility of those who mistakenly “believe that they can use the language of force with us,” he stressed.