Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Belarus Viktor Gulevich connects the conduct of joint exercises on the territory of Belarus with the divisions of the two fraternal countries, among other things, with the expansion of NATO to the east, the military department of the republic informs.

That is why, the major general explained, speaking at a briefing for foreign military diplomats on February 21, units of the Russian Armed Forces will return to their permanent deployment centers only when there is an objective need for this. In addition, the military leader demanded that the United States and NATO withdraw troops from the border of the Union State.

"We do not accept diktat and unilateral approaches that infringe on the Belarusian side," he stressed. The policy of NATO expansion to the East, according to him, is regarded "as aggressive and unjustified. It does not ensure stability in the Eastern European region, but, on the contrary, increases the likelihood of an armed conflict. There is an escalation of tension. And not from the territory of Belarus. All this led to the need for a set of measures to deter such aggressive manifestations and the threat of the use of force against the Republic of Belarus and the Union State as a whole," the head of the General Staff of the Republic of Belarus stated.

As for the units of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, he specified, they "will return to their points of permanent deployment only when there is an objective need for this, and when we determine it ourselves. This is purely our internal business," the general summed up.

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