The US and NATO consider that Belarus might “quickly” be a part of Russia in its warfare in opposition to Ukraine, US and NATO officers inform CNN, and that the nation is already taking steps to take action.
It’s more and more “seemingly” that Belarus will enter the battle, a NATO navy official mentioned on Monday.
“Putin wants assist. Something would assist,” the official defined.
A Belarusian opposition supply mentioned that Belarusian fight models are prepared to enter Ukraine as quickly as the subsequent few days, with hundreds of forces ready to deploy. On this supply’s view, it will have much less of an affect militarily than it can geopolitically, given the implications of one other nation becoming a member of the warfare.
A senior NATO intelligence official mentioned individually the alliance assesses that the Belarusian authorities “is getting ready the surroundings to justify a Belarusian offensive in opposition to Ukraine.”
Belarusians voted final month to permit the nation to host each Russian forces and nuclear weapons completely, although US officers have emphasised to CNN that they haven’t but seen any proof of Russia shifting nuclear weapons or getting ready to.
The sources emphasised that there have been no indications thus far that Belarus is presently collaborating within the combating in Ukraine, and a senior US protection official mentioned the Pentagon had not seen “any indications that the Belarusians are getting ready to maneuver … into Ukraine or that they’ve made any agreements to try this.”
The NATO navy official mentioned {that a} ultimate determination for Belarus’ involvement within the warfare nonetheless must be made in Moscow, and as of but, there was no indication that Belarusian forces are collaborating within the combating in Ukraine.
“It’s not about what [Alexander] Lukashenko desires,” the official defined, referring to the Belarusian president. “The query is: Does Putin need one other unstable nation within the area?”
“Involvement would destabilize Belarus,” the official mentioned.
The official would not elaborate on how Belarus might intervene within the warfare, however mentioned it made sense for Russia to try to reduce off NATO navy help coming into Ukraine from its Western border.
Extra background: Russia has been utilizing Belarus as a springboard for a lot of of its air operations in Ukraine, in keeping with intelligence collected by NATO surveillance planes flying over the Polish-Ukrainian border and radar seen by CNN.
CNN’s Barbara Starr contributed reporting to this submit.
