In 2022, Russia used Belarus as its launching pad for its failed blitzkrieg on Kyiv. Last year, Russia moved some of its tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus. Increasingly, defense officials in Belarus make hostile comments about Poland, a nation with four times the population.
In May, when Mr. Putin visited Minsk, Belarus’ president, Alexander Lukashenko, named as first deputy defense minister, Major General Pavel Muraveyka, an officer known for publicly threatening Poland and Lithuania.
Last week, at a briefing about the drills, Vladimir Kupriyanyuk, deputy head of General Staff of the Belarusian armed forces, said the exercises were a response to the “West’s aggressive foreign policy toward Belarus” and to “Ukrainian provocation.”
Alarmed by Mr. Putin’s all-out assault on Ukraine, Poland is spending on defense this year 4 percent of its gross domestic product, double the goal set for NATO member nations. Within five years, Poland plans to increase its military to 300,000 soldiers, a 58 percent jump from the 190,000 today.
Writ large, the presence this week of Chinese soldiers training in Eastern Europe is a rebuke to NATO. Yesterday, the 32 members of the trans-Atlantic pact closed their 75th annual meeting in Washington.
Referring to the sizable flow of dual use equipment to Russia’s military from China, the joint statement called Beijing “a decisive enabler of Russia’s war” and warned about consequences to “its interests and reputation” for enabling “the largest war in Europe in recent history.”
In Brussels, China’s mission to the EU immediately reacted yesterday, describing the statement as being “full of Cold War mentality and belligerent rhetoric, and China-related content full of provocations, lies, incitement and smears.”
China’s fear is that NATO could persuade Poland to check cargo trains heading east to China from Malaszewicze. With 50 trains a day passing through, Polish customs officials could easily create a work-to-rule slowdown.
In that light, the PLA soldiers practicing night landings, operations in populated areas, and overcoming water barriers may be sending a signal to Poland. The site of the training ground, the city of Brest, is across the Bug River from Poland.
China’s Defense Ministry said in a forward-looking statement of the China-Belarus drills: “The joint training aims to enhance the coordination capabilities of the participating troops and deepen practical cooperation between the two armies.”
Source link : https://www.nysun.com/article/chinese-communist-soldiers-train-in-belarus-the-kremlins-satellite-in-eastern-europe-and-a-stones-throw-from-nato
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Publish date : 2024-07-12 11:13:37
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