NATO warned that Belarus could soon attack Ukraine

A senior NATO official warned on Monday that Belarus, an ally close to Putin in Eastern Europe, could soon attack Ukraine and is also preparing to allow Moscow to place nuclear weapons on its territory.

According to the senior official who spoke on condition of anonymity, NATO is concerned that Belarusian troops will join Russian forces in the invasion of Ukraine.

“The Belarusian government is setting the mood to justify a Belarusian offensive against Ukraine and the imminent deployment of Russian nuclear weapons in Belarus,” the official said, as reported by The Guardian.

Since the beginning of the Russian invasion, the US and the Ukrainian authorities have warned of the danger that Belarus will become involved in the invasion of Ukraine. Even a more active role than it now plays, allowing Russian troops to launch ground and air operations from its territory.

“I am not saying that they are going to put nuclear bombs there tomorrow. What I mean is that they have taken political measures so that they can now receive nuclear weapons if that decision is made,” he said.

According to the official, the Russian operation in Ukraine could enter a stalemate, with Ukrainian forces thwarting the advance of Moscow troops. However, he warned that Putin is not going to back down.

The official continued to describe the conflict in Ukraine as about to enter a stalemate, with Ukrainian forces preventing Russia from moving forward, but Russian President Vladimir Putin, shows no willingness to retreat.

“If we are not at a standstill, we are rapidly approaching one. The reality is that neither side has superiority over the other,” he said.

The official finds it difficult for Putin to be willing to admit his failure, despite not having made significant progress in the last two weeks. And he points out that the problem of reaching an impasse is the struggle that is long and prolonged and that it involves a loss of life and serious damage.

“Neither side here can win. Neither side will capitulate,” he said.

On the other hand, Russia has intensified its air and naval operations in Ukraine in the face of resistance from Ukrainian forces, which continue to impede the advance of the army Russian in the country, a Pentagon official reported on Monday.

“Over the past 24 to 48 hours, we have seen an increase in air activity on both sides,” the US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the press.

“The Russians have made more than 300 departures in the last 24 hours and the Ukrainians have also accelerated the pace of theirs,” he added, without quantifying those of Ukrainian aviation, which is much lower than the Russian one.

According to him, these operations do not manifest themselves in air combat. Russian aviation tends to fire air-to-surface missiles at Ukrainian targets from Russian or Belarusian airspace.

“They do not venture far or for long into Ukrainian airspace,” which Ukrainians defend “with great skill,” he remarked.

“We have seen an increase in naval activity in the northern Black Sea,” added the US Department of Defense official.

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