NATO SecGen: Drills, US troops in Lithuania no threat to Belarus

Belarus should not be concerned over the upcoming drills and the US military presence in the vicinity of the Belarusian-Lithuanian border, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said in Brussels on October, 28.

“When it comes to our military doctrine, NATO has always been transparent and predictable. Similarly, NATO member states are transparent and predictable in their way of conducting military exercises. Thus, the defensive alliance that stages maneuvers should hardly be a concern to the neighbours,” Jens Stoltenberg stressed.

The NATO exercise Defender Europe is scheduled for the spring of 2020. It is expected to take place in ten European countries, including Poland, Lithuania, and Latvia; 40,000 military from 18 countries being involved. More than half a thousand American soldiers will live in the area of the Lithuanian military training ground in Pabrade, 15 km from the Belarusian-Lithuanian border.

A week ago, Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka tasked State Secretary of the Security Council Stanislau Zas and Defense Minister Andrey Raukou to develop an action plan to provide an adequate response to the deployment of armoured vehicles and U.S. armed forces not far from Belarus.

Lukashenka threatens Lithuania with asymmetrical response to American ‘armored fist’

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