Russia's Defense Ministry: Belarus, Russia military are preparing to respond to any threat

On 18 January the Defense Ministries of Belarus and Russia held briefings for military attachés on the forthcoming inspection of the Union State rapid response forces. The briefing in Moscow was attended by 98 representatives of the military and diplomatic corps accredited in Russia, including those from 16 NATO countries. The press service of the Russian Defense Ministry sent BelTA the key takeaways of the briefing hosted by Russian Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin.

According to Alexander Fomin, the inspection of the rapid response forces involves a number of scenarios to neutralize threats and destabilization risks on the borders of Russia and Belarus. The plans to hold such an inspection were made by the presidents of the two countries at the end of 2021. “The presidents of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus agreed to hold the event back in December last year. Back then the heads of state decided to conduct an unscheduled inspection of the troops and assess their readiness to maintain military security, as well as to work out various scenarios of joint actions to neutralize threats and to stabilize the situation on the borders of the Union State,” he said. He recalled that various options of using the regional group of troops (forces) are being tested regularly. “Last year, we conducted the Zapad 2021 exercise. It confirmed the high combat readiness of the group,” Alexander Fomin said.

It was noted at the briefing that the capabilities of the regional group might not be enough to maintain security, therefore the group might be reinforced. Therefore, the military of