Putin told Macron that he would withdraw troops from Belarus – Topka

Putin said this during Sunday’s 105-minute call to Macron. This is stated in a statement by the French presidential office, which warned that the possible withdrawal of Russian troops from Belarus will have to confirm information from the field. According to Macron’s office, Putin’s words seem to contradict a previous statement by the Belarusian government that Russian troops would stay in Belarus longer than planned.

Macron received a phone call with the Ukrainian president

In addition, Emmanuel Macron received a phone call on Sunday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. He is also due to negotiate with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and US President Joe Biden in the coming hours to avert the threat of a Russian attack on Ukraine. According to the Elysee Palace, he could make further phone calls with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi and other partners. The joint maneuvers of Russia and Belarus, called Allied Commitment 2022, were originally scheduled for February 10-20. After the exercise, Russian soldiers and equipment were to return to home bases.

However, the Belarusian Ministry of Defense announced on Sunday that the exercise will continue in connection with the deterioration of the situation in eastern Ukraine’s Donbas and the increase in military activities in the countries neighboring Russia and Belarus. Western countries estimate that Russia has relocated about 30,000 troops to Belarus, as well as important weapons systems, anti-aircraft missiles and fighters. They fear that they could be deployed during the invasion of Ukraine, whose capital Kiev is only 80 kilometers from the Belarusian border.

Russian troops are a threat to Belarus’ sovereignty, Cichanovskaya says

Belarusian opposition leader Exile Sviatlana Cichanovskaya said on Sunday that the presence of Russian troops in prolonged military maneuvers in Belarus threatened her country’s sovereignty. The AFP agency informed about it. “The presence of Russian troops on our territory is a violation of our constitution, international law, threatens the security of every Belarus and the whole region,” stated in a statement from her office. Cichanov said this after Minsk announced that large-scale joint military exercises between Russia and Belarus, which were to end on Sunday, would continue. Belarusian Defense Minister Viktar Chrenin cited the reason for such a step “increase in military activity near the external borders of the Union State (Russia and Belarus)” and “the deterioration of the situation in Donbas”

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Sviatlana Cichanovská
Source: SITA / AP Photo / Mindaugas Kulbis

The maneuvers have exacerbated Western concerns that Russia was about to attack Ukraine as it gathered tens of thousands of troops around its borders, the AFP said. “We demand the immediate withdrawal of Russian troops from our territory,” Cichanovska said in a statement that her team would try to get the UN Security Council involved in this issue.

Lukashenko is becoming a closer ally of Putin

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has recently become an increasingly close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, the AFP said. Their relationship has deepened since Moscow’s support for Moscow in suppressing large-scale anti-government protests in Belarus following the disputed presidential elections in August 2020.

Cichanov, who went into exile after the election, said Lukashenko was now paying for this support with Belarusian “sovereignty”, with “now we see the consequences”. The AFP recalls that the Belarusian opposition considers Cichanovska to be the real winner of the aforementioned presidential election. After the official results, according to which her rival and longtime president Lukashenko won, mass protests broke out in Belarus, which were severely suppressed. Cichanovská herself took refuge in exile in neighboring Lithuania.