In the event that NATO bases appear in Ukraine, Russia will be able to take a number of countermeasures, including introducing economic sanctions against Kiev and the alliance countries, increasing the grouping of troops on the border, as well as deploying new weapons on the territory of Belarus, experts told RIA Novosti.
Earlier, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko said that he and Russian President Vladimir Putin had agreed to jointly respond to the deployment of NATO troops in Ukraine.
“Indeed, the emergence of NATO bases in Ukraine is quite possible. If this really happens, then on the part of Russia, the opening of such bases will be accompanied by diplomatic measures, the introduction of economic sanctions against the countries that will deploy bases there, and in relation to Kiev itself, as well as an increase grouping of troops on the Russian-Ukrainian border”, said Doctor of Military Sciences.
According to the well-known military expert, editor-in-chief of the National Defense magazine Igor Korotchenko, preparations for the construction of NATO’s military infrastructure in Ukraine are already underway. Moscow and Minsk will monitor the dynamics of this process and, if the situation calls for it, they can agree on the deployment of new strike complexes on Belarusian territory, the source said.
“De facto, preparations for the emergence of NATO bases in Ukraine have already begun – there is a creeping expansion of the alliance and the United States, as its leading member, into Ukrainian territory – so far in the form of logistics points for instructors deployed there. In any case, we will implement joint strategic planning with Belarusian partners of operations to neutralize possible challenges and threats, including the deployment of components of Russian strike systems on the territory of Belarus”, Korotchenko said.
The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine in December 2014 amended two laws, abandoning the non-aligned status of the state. In June 2016, additional amendments were adopted that define NATO membership as the country’s foreign policy goal. In February 2019, the Ukrainian parliament adopted amendments to the constitution, securing the country’s course towards the EU and NATO.