BREST, 18 October (BelTA) – The job of the joint military task force of Belarus and Russia is to ensure security along the entire perimeter of the Union State, Belarusian Defense Minister Viktor Khrenin said at a briefing on ongoing military and political developments in Belarus and abroad for employees of Gefest-Technika company in Brest on 18 October, BelTA has learned.
"Belarus and Russia have made some decisions as part of collective security. The joint military task force of the Republic of Belarus and the Russian Federation is being deployed for armed defense of the Union State. The task force itself is a complex system consisting of many components: management bodies of various levels, troops and various support systems. Since the decision to set up the task force was taken in the Union State, various options for its deployment and use have been worked out. Today, based on the evolving situation, we are acting step by step, implementing certain measures to get the task force ready to respond to emerging challenges and threats. We are confident that all this will help us ensure security along the entire perimeter of the Union State in the Eastern European region of collective security," Viktor Khrenin said.
In the emerging military-political situation Belarus is taking a host of strategic deterrence measures, both non-force and with the use of force. Already today, active-duty troops are on high alert protecting the state border. Measures have been envisaged to suppress military provocations in the border space. Belarus has troops and forces on the southern borders of the country, on a rotational basis, and has developed options for an adequate response to changes in the situation.
All these strategic deterrence measures, according to the minister, show the country's readiness to defend the country and cause unacceptable damage to an aggressor. "But still, Belarus' military policy relies on the following tenet: negotiations are better than saber-rattling. As the head of our state has repeatedly emphasized, Minsk is open to this kind of interaction," he said.
Viktor Khrenin stressed that all the ongoing activities are a response to the actions of opponents. "We're not going to attack anybody. I emphasize once again: the task force is purely defensive, and all the activities currently being carried out are aimed at ensuring an adequate response to what is happening near our borders," the defense minister summed up.
