Voinov: Escalating military and political situation does not fit in with good-neighborliness concept

Escalating the military and political situation in the region does not fit in with the good-neighborliness concept, said Major-General Oleg Voinov, Chief of the International Military Cooperation Department of the Belarusian Defense Ministry, Defense Minister Aide for International Military Cooperation, BelTA has learned.

"Recently, we have heard a lot of thunderous statements by some government officials accusing the Republic of Belarus of being the so-called donor of instability in the Eastern European region. And, oddly enough, they mostly come from the states of the belt of good neighborliness. These are our closest neighbors, who, instead of developing mutually beneficial contacts have opted for open escalation of the military-political situation in the region, which does not fit in with the concept of good-neighborliness," said Oleg Voinov.

According to him, the Belarusian state “is groundlessly smeared by those countries that themselves have been artificially escalating the situation and that have failed to make any attempts to resolve the situation, hoping to reap certain political, economic and military dividends from their mighty partners.”

Invitations to take part in the briefing held by the Defense Ministry were sent to members of the Minsk Association of Military Attaches, as well as military attachés of European states based in Moscow and Kyiv with concurrent accreditation with the Defense Ministry of the Republic of Belarus. During the briefing, the foreign military attaches were provided with up-to-date and objective information on the state of the military and political situation in the region with a focus on unfriendly moves of individual countries against Belarus. The briefing discussed the ongoing military buildup in the areas bordering the Republic of Belarus, as well as the suspension of collaboration with individual countries in the field of confidence- and security-building in the region. The Belarusian Defense Ministry said that it is ready to resume constructive cooperation if it is based on mutual respect and the principle of equality. The ministry noted that rapprochement should be initiated by those countries that terminated cooperation with the Armed Forces of the Republic of Belarus.