The joint exercises are not unusual, but the latest drills have been dubbed by NATO as Russia’s largest deployment to Belarus since the Cold War.
Meanwhile, diplomatic efforts to end the Ukraine situation are still underway.
On Thursday, Russian and Belarusian forces will begin a 10-day large-scale military drill in Belarus.
The drills came amid escalating concerns over Russia’s force buildup near its Ukrainian border.
The “Allied Resolve drills” are Russia’s largest deployment to ex-Soviet Belarus since the Cold War, according to NATO.
The joint exercises are not unusual, but the latest drills have been dubbed by NATO as Russia’s largest deployment to Belarus since the Cold War.
Meanwhile, diplomatic efforts to end the Ukraine situation are still underway.
A 10-day large-scale military exercise between Russian and Belarusian forces has begun.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg estimated the number of troops as being around 30,000.
Carl Bildt, former Swedish prime minister and co-chair of the European Council on Foreign Relations, told DW the buildup of Russian troops near Ukraine “is the largest such buildup we have seen in Europe for decades.”
It is unclear whether nuclear weapons would be part of the drills.
According to Russia’s Defense Ministry, shortly before the military exercise started medium-range strategic bombers were on patrol over Belarus.
Wolfgang Richter, a military expert at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP), told DW there was nothing unusual in such patrol flights: “the US does this as well, these are political signals.”
He added that such flights are normally carried out without the involvement of nuclear weapons.
“Iskander-M” rockets, which NATO says were brought to Belarus, can also be equipped with nuclear weapons.
Richter pointed out that in Russia these weapons have so far been equipped with conventional weapons.