Russian MP: Joint group of forces of Russia, Belarus will not be used in special military operation

There is no need to use the joint group of forces of Russia and Belarus in the special military operation, RIA Novosti reported with reference to the head of the State Duma Committee on Defense Andrei Kartapolov, BELTA reports.

"As for the participation [of the joint group] in the special military operation, I think that this will not be necessary. The group that is currently deployed there is quite capable of performing the task," the MP said. According to him, the aim of the deployment of the joint group of the Russian Federation and Belarus is to alleviate the concerns of our Belarusian brothers.”

He also noted that the joint group will be deployed in response to the actions of the opponents, primarily Poland and its military buildup on the border with Belarus. "So, of course, we cannot disregard it. The joint group is not something new. It is stipulated in the Union State documents. Therefore it is called the regional group of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Belarus and the Russian Federation. Every year, we drilled its deployment and task performance at regular exercises. To date, a decision has simply been made at the request of the Belarusian president to deploy it. How large it will be is too early to say. The decision will be made by the general staffs of our countries," Andrei Kartapolov said.