Kiev is looking for additional military forces to send them to the border with Belarus, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba said on December 2.
Kuleba said that any potential threat requires the concentration of resources to mitigate it. The minister said that Minsk's statements are "part of Russia's aggressive foreign policy," mentioning the statements of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko on recognizing Crimea as Russian.
"Lukashenka's statement on recognizing Crimea as part of Russia, as well as the hybrid invasion committed by his regime against Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, makes him an open threat. This threat should be answered. However, in order to prevent such a development of events, it is necessary to send an appropriate number of military personnel to the Belarusian border. We are currently deciding where to get these resources," the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine said in an interview with the website Sargs.lv .
At the same time, Kuleba noted that there are no signals yet that Belarus is preparing for a military operation against Ukraine.
Earlier in the day, Kuleba said that the Council of the European Union (EU) had decided to provide Ukraine with €31 million to strengthen its defense capabilities. According to Kuleba, the money will be spent on logistical assistance for the development and capacity-building of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the fields of medicine, mine clearance, mobility, logistics, cybersecurity.
On November 30, the Belarusian leader said he wanted to start a trip to the Crimean peninsula from Sevastopol as a sign of its recognition as part of Russia.
On the same day, Kuleba threatened Belarus that if Minsk officially recognizes Crimea as Russian, then Kiev will act "in full."
In addition, Kiev believes that Russia may use Belarus for a possible attack on Ukraine. So, on November 22, the American Bloomberg agency, citing sources, reported that, according to US intelligence, Russia could allegedly plan an attack on Ukraine in early 2022 and conduct it from three directions, including through Belarus.
Crimea returned to the Russian Federation following the results of the 2014 referendum. 96.77% of the residents of the region and 95.6% of the voters of Sevastopol voted for joining. Meanwhile, Ukraine considers the peninsula its territory. Moscow has repeatedly stated that the issue of ownership of the subject is closed forever.
