Belarusian Defense Minister Viktor Khrenin said Minsk does not yet consider it necessary to deploy Russian military bases in the country, despite NATO activation on the western border. He said this over the air on the TV channel & nbsp; Al Jazeera, a fragment of the interview & nbsp; was published by the press service of the Ministry of Defense.
“Why do we need them [Russian bases] here? We have a State of the Union, a regional grouping of troops, which includes the entire army of the armed forces of the Republic of Belarus and part of the forces and assets of the Federation of Russia, which, according to our calculations, is quite sufficient, & ndash; noted Khrénine. & ndash; If necessary, Russia is very close. They will all be in our territory. & # 39; & # 39;
The Minister noted that Moscow and Minsk have developed a different mechanism of interaction. “ We train our armed forces in centers, training and combat centers, where joint duty is organized. We study the technique, the new technique, study the experience, share our experience somewhere. & lt; … & gt; If necessary, then, as President [of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko] said, at least the entire Russian army will be here. Because we don't want war, no problems, but we will stand firm for our land and not let anyone dictate to us or speak to us from a position of strength. We are a proud little Belarusian people & # 39; & # 39 ;, & ndash; said the head of the Ministry of Defense.
He added that Belarus would like to have its own divisions of Iskander tactical missile systems, but if necessary, & nbsp; several Russian divisions will arrive in the republic.
Earlier in Warsaw, it was reported that NATO is providing assistance to Poland in the migration crisis. They talked about a political settlement of the situation and the support of Polish security forces on the Polish-Belarusian border.
Lukashenko also said he would discuss the migration crisis with Putin and, if necessary, ask his Russian counterpart to provide assistance.