Russian-led bloc’s general blames West for tension near Belarus’ borders

February 14, BPN. An “instability belt” is forming around the countries of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), Anatoly Sidorov, a Russian general in charge of the CSTO Joint Staff, has told journalists.

He official also accused the West of instigating crises and military conflicts, supporting color revolutions and terrorist organizations as well as introducing economic sanctions against countries it deems hostile.

NATO’s expansion, the build-up of its presence at CSTO’s western borders, including near Belarus, as well as an increased number of drills and “ongoing militarization of Poland and the Baltic states” pose security threats, he stressed.

Since February 2022, NATO boosted its forces in Eastern Europe from 13,000 to 33,000, including 15,000 American soldiers, Sidorov said. The air group has over 2,000 combat aircraft, while 18 warships, two nuclear submarines and one aircraft carrier with a total of 454 cruise missiles are deployed in the Baltic and the Mediterranean seas, he added.

What he did not say is that NATO’s build up had been in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

“The West assigned Ukraine the role of an anti-Russian bridgehead,” Sidorov claimed. Kyiv would be pulled “into a dead-end debt pit” by Western funding, weapons, equipment and foreign mercenaries that are only prolonging the war, he noted.

In February 2022, Russia started a full-scale war against Ukraine. Alaksandr Łukašenka admitted that Belarus participated in it, but said it was “not killing anyone.”

Authorities in Minsk denied Belarusian army troops’ involvement in combat operations on the Russian side. However, Belarus allowed Russian troops and weapons to move freely through the country, use its airspace, refuel and store military equipment and attack Ukraine from its territory.