Russia on Wednesday deployed more troops and fighter jets to Belarus as part of a major military exercise between the two allied nations—while also more than 20 warships of the Black Sea fleet departed their naval bases for drills in the Black Sea waters.
The Russian Ministry of Defense said in a statement it relocated crews of Su-35S multirole fighter aircraft of the Eastern Military District (EMD) to the Republic of Belarus as part of the “Allied Resolve-2022” joint exercises that will be held in early February.
Upon troops’ arrival at Belarusian airfields, the crews of the Su-35S advanced combat aircrafts “will go on air defense combat alert as part of a check of the Union State’s integrated air defense system,” the ministry said.
“During the exercise, measures will be taken to strengthen the protection of the State Border to prevent the penetration of armed groups of militants, to block the channels for the delivery of weapons and ammunition, as well as to search, block, and destroy illegal armed formations,” it added.
Экипажи многоцелевых истребителей Су-35С Восточного военного округа, привлекаемые к проверке сил реагирования Союзного государства, продолжают перебазирование на белорусские аэродромы https://t.co/IrPfMZk0bO#Минобороны #АрмияРоссии #ВВО #СоюзнаяРешимость2022 pic.twitter.com/Fy5QZogIOf
— Минобороны России (@mod_russia) January 26, 2022
Meanwhile, more than 20 Russian combat ships and vessels entered the Barents Sea in the Arctic Ocean to practice a series of communications and safe maneuvering drills near a major Arctic shipping lane. The major naval drills will also involve exercises to provide air defense at sea, the Black Sea Fleet’s press office reported on Wednesday. Moscow announced the sweeping naval exercises last week.
“The drills of combined-arms task forces, naval strike and amphibious assault groups in the Black Sea involve frigates, guard ships, missile corvettes, and missile boats, amphibious assault ships, small anti-submarine warfare ships and also minesweepers,” the Fleet’s press office said, Russia’s state-owned news agency TASS reported.
Более 20 кораблей Черноморского флота вышли в море для участия в учении, которое будет проведено в акватории Чёрного моря https://t.co/e20MuauYht#Минобороны #АрмияРоссии #ЧФ #Учения pic.twitter.com/CbCfDFg9z6
— Минобороны России (@mod_russia) January 26, 2022
Russia’s latest flurry of naval and airforce exercises come one day after U.S. President Joe Biden said he would consider personal sanctions on Russian President Vladimir Putin. It also comes amid officials preparing to sit down for four-way talks in the capital of France on the conflict in east Ukraine.
“There will be enormous consequences if [Russian President Vladimir Putin] were to go in and invade, as he could, the entire country—or a lot less than as well—for Russia, not only in terms of economic consequences and political consequences, but there will be enormous consequences worldwide,” Biden said to reporters during a visit to a shop in Washington on Tuesday.
“This would be the largest—if he were to move in with all those forces—it would be the largest invasion since World War II,” the president added. “It would change the world.”
Russia has repeatedly insisted it does not plan to invade neighboring Ukraine, but it has issued a list of demands that includes NATO promising to not allow Ukraine to become a NATO member state.
On Wednesday, Russia warned it would quickly take “retaliatory measures” if the United States and its allies reject its proposed security demands. Some demands have been labeled by NATO as “nonstarters.”
“If the West continues its aggressive course, Moscow will take the necessary retaliatory measures,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said. “We won’t allow our proposals to be drowned in endless discussions,” he added.
The Kremlin’s point man on Ukraine was due to meet officials from France, Germany, and Ukraine for “Normandy format” talks in Paris against the backdrop of a Russian military buildup near Ukraine that has sparked fears of an invasion.
The Normandy talks to end the war in eastern Ukraine between Kyiv and Russia-backed separatists have met for years without real progress, but Wednesday’s talks may be seen as a positive sign of diplomacy taking place despite the soaring tensions.
A spokesman for Dmitry Kozak, the Kremlin’s representative on Ukraine, said the talks in Paris would start at 11:00 GMT with a news briefing expected after 14:00.
Andriy Yermak, chief of staff to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said Ukraine ruled out talking directly to the Russian-backed separatists.
Reuters contributed to this report.