Belarus, Lithuania Discuss Regional Security, Bilateral Military Cooperation - Minsk

Belarus, Lithuania Discuss Regional Security, Bilateral Military Cooperation - Minsk

Prospects of bilateral military cooperation and regional security were discussed in Minsk during a meeting between the representatives of the Belarusian Defense Ministry and the Lithuanian Ministry of National Defense, the Belarusian Defense Ministry said on Wednesday

MINSK (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 04th December, 2019) Prospects of bilateral military cooperation and regional security were discussed in Minsk during a meeting between the representatives of the Belarusian Defense Ministry and the Lithuanian Ministry of National Defense, the Belarusian Defense Ministry said on Wednesday.

"During the visit, the parties discussed the state and prospects of bilateral military cooperation, and important issues of regional and international security," the message said.

According to the ministry, Oleg Voinov, an adviser to the Belarusian defense minister, met with Robertas Shapronas, the director of the Department of International Cooperation and Operations of the Ministry of National Defense of Lithuania, on December 4. Shapronas headed the Lithuanian delegation.

On October 28, Belarusian Defense Minister Andrei Ravkov said that the country will respond to the United States' deployment of armored vehicles to Lithuania and the NATO Defender Europe 2020 military drills, including through boosting security at the border with Lithuania, increasing arms control and sending groups of inspectors to the bordering territory.

Earlier in October, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko also expressed his concerns regarding the Defender Europe 2020 military drills that are to take place across eastern and central Europe, warning that Minsk may resort to some countermeasures.

The drills are set to run from April-May 2020 and will span across ten countries. The United States will send a record 20,000 soldiers to Europe for participation in the drills, marking the largest deployment to the continent in the past 25 years.