Up to 30,000 NATO troops are permanently stationed in the Baltic states, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belarus, Maxim Ryzhenkov, emphasized during the International Forum on Collective Security held in Moscow.
"The development of the [geopolitical] situation also creates the conditions for the escalation of weapons. This is evident in our border, in the extent to which our neighbors, Poland, Lithuania and Latvia, are arming themselves," he emphasized.
In this sense, the chancellor stated that Minsk is constantly aware of "the requests of our Baltic neighbors to increase NATO and US forces in their territory". "The general atmosphere in our neighboring countries is currently very militaristic," he concluded.