The Biden administration is watching with concern Russian troop movements to Belarus, which they fear could be used to attack Ukraine from the north, a senior State Department official said on Tuesday.
The official said the Russian troop movements, which are being described by Moscow and Minsk as joint military drills, failed to adhere to “normal” procedures for notifying European states about the so-called exercises more than a month in advance and invite international observers.
The alarm comes as U.S. officials are heightening rhetoric that Russia could imminently launch an invasion of Ukraine even as President Biden’s top diplomats have been carrying out intensive diplomacy with Russia to try and walk it back from the brink of war.
The senior State Department official criticized the Russian-Belarus exercises as “insufficiently notified” and that “it represents is an increased capability for Russia to launch this attack — increased opportunity, increased avenues” to launch an invasion of Ukraine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is considered the only patron of the isolated Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenka, whose ruling regime is under sanctions by the U.S. and allies in Europe related to an intensive campaign of political and civic repression.
The long-time Belarusian leader — who maintained his grip on power following the 2020 elections in the country despite widespread criticisms of fraud, mass protests and sanctions — carried out ever-more repressive and erratic actions against critics and dissidents.
This includes the funneling of refugee and asylum seekers from the Middle East to Europe’s border in an effort to pressure them to relieve sanctions, and the forced-landing of a commercial airline flying between Greece and Lithuania allegedly to arrest a media critic.
“There are many troubling things happening in Belarus right now and there can be no doubt about Belarus’s role as an increasingly destabilizing actor in the region,” the senior State Department official said, and further raised concern about efforts by Lukashenko to allow Russian-nuclear forces to station themselves in the country.
The official said that a proposed changes to Belarus’s constitution, with a referendum on the changes expected in February, “may indicate Belarus plans to allow both Russian conventional and nuclear forces to be stationed on this territory.”
The official added that Lukashenka began the discussion about nuclear weapons in Belarus in November, and that while the long-time strong-man “routinely says incredibly hyperobolic, unfounded, thoughts as they happen to cross his mind… when a leader like Lukashenko starts talking about nuclear weapons, we should all pay attention.”
HD Editor’s Note:
On Tuesday, White House Press Sec. Jen Psaki told reporters that an invasion of Ukraine could happen “at any point,” calling it an “extremely dangerous situation.”
She further stated that “consequences are going to be severe” if Russia doesn’t “take the diplomatic path.” Psaki was then criticized for her comment which many believe were further escalating tensions, prompting her to admit that her statement was “more stark than we have been.”
Sec. Of State Antony Blinken is reported going to attend a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Friday, seeking to “ward off an invasion of Ukraine by Russia” according to The Hill.
Tensions are further increasing as many European countries are appearing to pick sides in the conflict. The United Kingdom transported RAF C-17 planes to Ukraine but was forced to divert its flight plan through Denmark to avoid travel through German airspace. The UK’s switch to taking the longer route came after Germany’s new Chancellor announced their refusal to provide Ukraine with weapons, according to Daily Mail.
Sweden also is seeking to defend itself from Russian aggression, moving 10 combat vehicles and armed troops to patrol the island of Gotland, following the presence of three Russian landing ships in the Baltic sea.
In Matthew 24, the disciples ask Jesus, “What shall be the sign of thy coming?” Jesus’s response is a detailed description of the condition of the world and what it will look like in the last days before His return. Wars and rumours of wars, nation rising against nation, famines, pestilences, earthquakes, these being the beginning of sorrows.
In Luke 21:25, Jesus describes that “upon the earth” there will be “Distress of Nations with Perplexity.“
These things will be greatly increased and primarily take place during the seven-year Tribulation (from which the church is absent). However, with the current global state of turmoil amongst the nations, we can’t help but recognize the distress of nations Jesus describes in Luke 21 and Matthew 24, rising in our world today.
