Russia’s occupation of Belarus is practically inevitable, Ukrainian military expert Olexiy Arestovich said in an interview with Apostrophe.
According to him, grievances against Putin’s system are growing in Russia, and only a major foreign policy achievement can improve the situation.
“A protest wave is now on the rise in Russia; the Kremlin is wary of it. The only thing that can tempt people who are sick and tired of the corrupt regime to the side of Dimon and Vovan [Medvedev and Putin] to their side is the image of Putin The Collector Of Lands. Therefore, they are seriously considering the option of joining Transnistria or Donetsk and Luhansk republics to Russia. A soft occupation of Belarus under the guise of the military exercise West-2017 is ipso facto imminent,” Arestovich believes.
In his opinion, Belarus president Alyaksandr Lukashenka will not be able to stop it.
“I think that Russia’s plan is as follows: seizing Belarus and posing a threat to the Baltic countries, Poland and Central Europe. They may be banking on the possibility that Poles, Balts and other NATO members who will be too scary of Russian military power and a threat of a local nuclear war somewhere in Kaliningrad region will forget about Ukraine and give up. In addition, Russia counts on U.S aid in Syria and Trump’s becoming more pliable – in this case, they could replay the situation in Ukraine,” the expert stresses.
The West-2017 war game is scheduled for September, 14-20. It will be the final stage of the joint training of the armed forces of the two countries this year.
In mid April, Oleksandr Turchynov, Secretary of the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine, stressed that the joint military exercise may become the preparation for an assault against Ukraine in September.
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The West-2017 war game is scheduled for September, 14-20. It will be the final stage of the joint training of the armed forces of the two countries this year.
Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite and a number of European politicians believe that the ‘West-2017’ demonstrates the preparation of Belarus and Russia to the war with the West. Some Belarusian experts repeatedly raised concerns to those of Turchynov.
belsat.eu, following apostrophe.ua
