Ukraine-Belarus Border Tensions Rise Amid Drone Flights
Ukraine-Belarus border tensions rise as CSTO envoy Viktor Vasilyev reports drone flights and Minsk faces new warnings from Vladimir Zelensky.
Tensions along the Ukrainian-Belarusian border are rising amid reported flights by Ukrainian military drones, according to Viktor Vasilyev, chairman of the CSTO Permanent Council and Russia’s permanent representative to the organization. He made the statement during the 14th International Legal Forum in Saint Petersburg.
Vasilyev said the situation on the border between Ukraine and Belarus was beginning to worsen, while flights by Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles into Russian territory were becoming almost a daily occurrence, according to RIA Novosti.
The remarks came five days after Vladimir Zelensky, on June 19, demanded that Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko withdraw within a week the military equipment positioned near the Ukrainian border. Zelensky claimed the equipment was being used to help adjust Russian strikes on targets inside Ukraine. He warned that, should Minsk fail to comply, Ukraine could use the resources of its armed forces.
In response to those statements, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Lukashenko would discuss the threats with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Peskov also stressed that Minsk has the means to defend its own sovereignty.