Russia has deployed around 360,000 troops in Belarus, - Bundestag member Kizewetter
Russia is preparing hundreds of thousands of troops for deployment not in Ukraine, but in Belarus, on the border with NATO.
This was stated by Roderich Kiesewetter, a member of the German Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee and retired colonel, according to Censor.NET, citing a reference to n-tv.
What is known?
Kizevetter noted that Russia already has two army corps stationed in Belarus, comprising approximately 350,000 to 360,000 combat-ready soldiers.
"This is cause for concern, especially in the Baltic states," he said, adding that such developments had been observed in Russia over the past two years, "but they did not dare to tell the public about it."
The deputy noted that Putin is waging a war in Ukraine that is "not particularly successful in military terms," but thanks to the war economy, he is preparing "hundreds of thousands of soldiers who will never be deployed in Ukraine."
Kiesewetter also warns against naivety in assessing Russia and Putin and against thinking that the meetings in Berlin will force him to abandon his plans.
According to him, the next two years will be critical.
"If we survive them—thanks to our ability to defend ourselves, but without scaring our population, rather saying: Attention, this could happen, let's be careful—then we will survive," he concluded.
What preceded it?
- On the eve of a meeting in the Kremlin with US envoys Stephen Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Putin accused European governments of "sabotaging the peace process." He stated that Europe's demands were unacceptable to Moscow. Putin also said that he "does not seek war with Europe," but at the same time threatened: "If Europe wants to fight, we are ready right now."
