Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on Defense and Security Viktor Bondarev commented on the participation of the Russian and Belarusian military in the joint exercise "Allied Resolve-2022" and spoke about the situation in Ukraine.
"Russian-Belarusian military cooperation in the field of regional security is permanent, institutionalized," the senator reminded. - We have a regional grouping of troops (forces) of Belarus and Russia, we actively cooperate within the framework of the CSTO, a number of Russian military facilities are located on the territory of Belarus. Joint exercises are held regularly. The military exercises "Allied Determination", which started on February 10, are aimed at practicing actions in case of aggression by a potential enemy and a terrorist threat. This process has no direct relation to Russia's relations with NATO."
As for the situation in Ukraine, according to Bondarev, no actions of Russia (including the Russian-Belarusian exercises) lead to an escalation of tension in this country. "We are not interested in it. Ukraine, by the way, too, - the senator is sure. - The only one who is interested in pitting our states and peoples against each other is the Anglo-Saxon bloc: first of all, the United States and Great Britain. And then the United States is now ready to "surrender" Ukraine in order to counteract Russia's rapprochement with China. And Belarus as such is not of interest to them. It is important to the Americans (and they unsuccessfully tried to carry out a coup there by proxy methods) only as a state adjacent to Russia, a zone of influence of Russia and the territory of residence of many of our compatriots."
The senator is pleased with the fact that the Belarusian people did not succumb to provocations, and the legitimate government held its positions. "We do not interfere in the process of self-determination of Belarusians. But we are always ready to assist them in protecting their sovereignty from external encroachments," said the chairman of the Federation Council Committee on Defense and Security.
Yuri Gavrilov
