In September, US President Donald Trump said after the talks with his Polish counterpart Andrzej Duda that Washington was considering setting up a permanent military base in Poland. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov characterized the announced plans as a direct breach of the NATO-Russia Founding Act.
“Any military attack on Belarus will be regarded as an attack on Russia with all the relevant consequences,” Babich told the Belarus 1 broadcaster on Sunday commenting on the NATO plans to deploy a military base near Belarus.
The ambassador called the NATO plans to boost its military presence near the Russian and Belarusian borders alarming.
“We have full mutual understanding with our Belarusian partners on this issue. We have an operating regional grouping of troops and forces. All the components, needed for defense as well as counteroffensive, are ready,” Babich said.
READ MORE: Polish-US Experts Group Begins Work on Potential US Base in Poland — MoD
Since 2014, NATO has been building up its military presence in Europe, particularly in Eastern European countries bordering Russia, using Moscow's alleged interference in Ukraine as a pretext.