The key facts

  • Maxim Ryzhenkov announced provocations by the West and Ukraine against Belarus at a meeting of the CSTO councils
  • According to him, NATO is building up offensive potential along the entire border of the republic
  • Minsk, according to the minister, is responding with political and diplomatic methods to the creation of Ukrainian 'national Belarusian formations'

Statement at the CSTO platform

Belarusian Foreign Minister Maxim Ryzhenkov said that Western politicians and the Ukrainian side are 'provoking in every way' the republic, trying to drag it into an armed confrontation, but Minsk is not giving in to this. The remarks were made at a joint meeting of the CSTO Council of Foreign Ministers, Council of Defense Ministers and Committee of Secretaries of Security Councils, as reported by BelTA (the quote is cited from Gazeta.Ru's publication).

Assessment of the situation on the western borders

According to Ryzhenkov, on the western borders of the CSTO the dynamics in the security sphere are negative: NATO member states continue to build up offensive military potential along the entire border of Belarus, and the alliance's secretary general Mark Rutte, according to the minister, spoke of an impending conflict 'that several generations of Europeans have not seen.' He also said that some high-ranking Western generals are seriously discussing Europe's readiness to fight Russia today or in 2029–2030, including with strikes against the Kola Peninsula, St. Petersburg, Kaliningrad, the Black Sea and Belarus.

Loss of arms control mechanisms

The minister pointed out that, in his assessment, the mechanisms of arms control built up over decades have become a victim of the West's ambitions: the concept of 'more security with fewer means' has been replaced by commitments to military superiority 'at any cost.' In addition, due to the freeze of direct professional contacts on the military line, predictability has been lost, which, Ryzhenkov believes, is fraught with growing risks of escalation with consequences for the entire continent.

Reaction to Ukrainian formations

Ryzhenkov said that Belarus is responding with 'political and diplomatic methods' to Ukraine's plans to create so-called national Belarusian formations, which, according to him, are currently operating against the Russian Federation. Separately, the outlet recalls an earlier statement by the republic's Security Council about Minsk's readiness to help Ukraine in the civilian sphere — this shows that Minsk's official rhetoric combines harsh assessments in the military sphere with a declaration of readiness for civilian cooperation with Kyiv.