Russia to base fighter jets in neighbouring Belarus
3 replies, posted
[QUOTE](Reuters) - Russia plans to deploy fighter jets in Belarus this year and eventually establish an air base in the former Soviet republic, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Tuesday.
The moves would increase Russia's military presence in Belarus, viewed by Moscow as a buffer between Russia and NATO, and could unnerve neighbouring members of the Western alliance.
Russia agreed in 2009 to set up a joint air defence system with Belarus and talks were held before then on establishing an air base there, but few concrete steps have been taken.
"We have begun considering the plan to create a Russian air base with fighter jets here," Shoigu said at a meeting with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko in the capital, Minsk.
"We hope that in 2015 there will be a regiment of warplanes (in Belarus) which will serve to defend our borders," Shoigu said in a portion of the meeting shown on Russian state television.
Shoigu said the plan is for the first fighter jets to arrive in Belarus this year. Russian aviation regiments normally consist of roughly 60 warplanes.
While Russian and NATO officials say armed conflict between the former Cold War adversaries is all but unthinkable, relations are strained and former Soviet satellites now in the Western alliance are particularly wary of the Russian military.
An anti-missile shield the United States is deploying in Europe together with NATO nations is a chief source of tension.
Shoigu's remarks coincided with a meeting in Brussels at which Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told NATO that Moscow still wants guarantees the system would not be used against Russia, despite a recent decision to scale it back.
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[url]http://reuters.com/article/2013/04/23/uk-russia-belarus-jets-idUKBRE93M11Z20130423[/url]
The U.S. will be massive hypocrites if they get mad over this.
[QUOTE=Riller;40390710]The U.S. will be massive hypocrites if they get mad over this.[/QUOTE]
I would wait for them to actually do it before calling them out.
[QUOTE=Awesomecaek;40390752]I would wait for them to actually do it before calling them out.[/QUOTE]
I didn't say they were gonna be mad, but [I]if[/I] they do, they're hilarious.
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