Russia’s airbase in Belarus may destabilize situation – Pentagon official


The Pentagon would regard the deployment of Russia’s airbase in Belarus as a sign of destabilization of the power balance in Eastern Europe, Michael Carpenter, U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, told reporters in Minsk on Tuesday.

Dr Michael Carpenter is visiting Belarus on March 28-30.

“Belarus is a sovereign state and can decide for building its own air base or deploying someone else’s. But we and our allies would view it as destabilization of the situation,” the Pentagon official said.

In his opinion, no country is posing a military threat to Belarus at the moment

“We see no military threats to Belarus either from the East or from the West, in particular from NATO. When we are building up our presence in Belarus’ neighboring countries, these actions are purely defensive,” Dr Michael Carpenter stressed.[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”150445″ img_size=”large” add_caption=”yes”][vc_column_text]

Dr Michael Carpenter is Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense with responsibility for Russia, Ukraine, and Eurasia. He also has responsibility for the Western Balkans and Conventional Arms Control. He holds an M.A. and Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of California at Berkeley and a B.A. in International Relations from Stanford University. 

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