Ambassador to Belarus Alexander Surikov replied with a joke to the suggestion that Russian troops might not have left Belarus after the West-2017 war game.
The diplomat was asked to comment on Friday’s statement by Ukraine’s General Staff of Ukraine Viktor Muzhenko who said that some Russian units remained in Belarus.
“Only if some soldier got married, he did stay [in Belarus]!” Surikov said.
Surikov called on people to go easy on military exercises.
“The troops are in the US and Europe. And troops cannot stay out of play. The exercises are usual workout routine, like athletes have,” said the ambassador.
All the troops involved in the Belarusian-Russian strategic exercise Zapad-2017 have returned to the places of permanent deployment, Russia’s Defense Ministry reports.
Russia left troops behind after staging war games in Belarus despite promising not to, Ukraine’s Commander in Chief Viktor Muzhenko told Reuters. According to him, Russia withdrew only a few units from Belarus and had lied about how many of its soldiers were there in the first place.
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- ‘If we wanted, we would invade you – like Crimea.’ Russia’s Kantemir division leaving Belarus
- Military vehicles at Belarus railway station: Zapad-2017 over, Russian soldiers going home
belsat.eu
