Russia and Belarus are set to begin a 10-day joint military exercise as fears grow about the buildup of Russian forces on Ukraine’s borders.

The combined drills, according to Nato, are Russia’s largest deployment to ex-Soviet Belarus since the Cold War.

Amid rising tensions over Ukraine, the White House dubbed the drills “escalatory.”

Although Russia has more than 100,000 troops on the border, it has consistently denied plans to attack Ukraine.

However, some Western nations, including the United States, have cautioned that a Russian attack may come at any time.

On Thursday, diplomats from across Europe are due to hold discussions aimed at resolving the crisis.

In 2014, Russia took over Ukraine’s southern Crimea peninsula from Ukraine. Since then, a long-running conflict in eastern Ukraine has erupted, with Russian-backed rebels controlling large swaths of land and at least 14,000 people killed.

The drills with Belarus are estimated to involve 30,000 Russian troops.

Alexander Lukashenko, the president of Belarus, is a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin. When massive demonstrations erupted in Belarus in 2020, the Kremlin backed Mr. Lukashenko, while most Western countries slapped sanctions and refused to recognize election results widely perceived to be rigged in the long-time leader’s favor.

The joint drills, according to a Kremlin spokeswoman, are serious since Russia and Belarus are facing “unprecedented threats.”

Vladimir Chizhov, Russia’s EU ambassador, told the BBC that his country still believes diplomacy may help de-escalate the Ukraine issue. After the exercises, he claimed, Russian forces stationed in Belarus would return to their regular locations.

“As we look at the preparation for these military exercises, again, we see this as certainly more an escalatory and not a de-escalatory action,” White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said.

The Normandy quartet – Russia, Ukraine, France, and Germany – will resume discussions on ending the conflict as early as Thursday, according to French President Emmanuel Macron.

On Wednesday, Mr. Macron told reporters that Mr. Putin had reassured him that Russian soldiers would not escalate the conflict, but Russia denied making such a promise.

Following two days of intense diplomacy led by Mr Macron, there is considerable speculation that a fresh focus on the so-called Minsk agreements aimed at ending the violence in eastern Ukraine could be used to calm the current crisis.

In 2014-2015, Ukraine, Russia, France, and Germany approved the agreements.

The agreements, according to some diplomats, might provide a path to de-escalation, with France’s ambassador to the United States, Philippe Etienne, tweeting that they should be used to “build a viable political solution.”

On Thursday, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will meet with Baltic leaders in Berlin.

At a joint press conference with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen on Wednesday, he said, “The task is that we ensure the security in Europe, and I believe that that will be achieved.”

On Thursday, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson will go to Brussels and Warsaw in support of Nato members.

Mr Johnson’s trip comes amid a flurry of diplomatic action, with Foreign Secretary Liz Truss and Defence Secretary Ben Wallace meeting their Russian counterparts in Moscow on Thursday.

Ms. Truss said ahead of her first travel to Russia in four years that she was resolved to stand out for freedom and democracy in Ukraine and that she planned to push Moscow to pursue a diplomatic solution.

Moscow has constantly blamed what it calls “the Anglo-Saxon nations” for escalating tensions around Ukraine.

It also called the United Kingdom’s claims that the Kremlin was planning to build a pro-Russian puppet administration in Ukraine “hysteria.”

Image Credit: Getty

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