MINSK, Feb. 19 (Xinhua) -- Belarus firmly opposes any deployment of Western military contingents along its borders, the Belarusian Defense Ministry said Thursday following a briefing for foreign military attaches.
Speaking to accredited diplomats from over 20 countries, Assistant to the Defense Minister for Foreign Military Cooperation Valery Revenko said Belarus categorically rejects foreign troops near its territory.
He criticized rising defense budgets, arms production, and military modernization by neighboring states -- actions he said signal hostility, not dialogue.
Revenko highlighted violations of international agreements, such as some neighbors' withdrawal from the Ottawa Convention banning landmines, warning such moves endanger their own populations.
He said that Belarusian military exercises are purely defensive, transparent, and aimed at deterring aggression, not initiating it.
Belarus is not expanding its troop numbers but is modernizing its army with high-tech weaponry, including precision missiles, aircraft and helicopters, to ensure strategic deterrence, Revenko said. ■