Russia Ally Belarus Vows to Respond to ‘Provocations’ by Neighbor Ukraine

Kyiv denies Minsk’s claims that Ukrainian troops are being deployed near the two countries’ shared border.

A satellite image shows assembled vehicles at V D Bolshoy Bokov airfield, near Mazyr, Belarus, on Feb. 22, 2022. Courtesy of Satellite image ©2022 Maxar Technologies/Handout via Reuters

Belarus, a key Russian ally, is ready to respond to perceived “provocations” by neighboring Ukraine, a leading Belarusian official has said.

“We have a response to every scenario, so we wouldn’t want the Ukrainian side to begin some sort of provocations, which are absolutely unnecessary and test our resilience,” Dmitry Krutoy, a top aide to Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, told Russia’s TASS news agency on July 1.