Military

Belarus Blasts US Move to Send Antipersonnel Mines to Ukraine

MINSK (Sputnik) - The decision of the outgoing US administration to supply antipersonnel mines to Ukraine will further undermine the global balance of power, Belarusian First Deputy Defense Minister Pavel Muraveiko said on Wednesday
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This move will prompt the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) to take action, he added.

"There was a system of checks and balances in the world, including a ban on the use of antipersonnel mines in modern warfare. The decision to provide such mines to Ukraine is another violation of the balance of power and an escalation," Muraveiko told reporters on the eve of a CSTO military and science conference.

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The general warned that there was no guarantee that such weapons would not be used against the CSTO member states, given deteriorating geopolitical relations, increasing instability and the failure of international political institutions to influence these processes. These factors have a significant impact on the security of Belarus and the entire Eastern European region, Muraveiko added.

"It is a known fact that the West-East confrontation has reached a heated phase. In this context, the escalation of the Ukrainian conflict near the southern border of Belarus is a trigger. This is due to irresponsible political decisions, such as sending Ukrainian and foreign mercenaries to attack the Kursk Region, giving [Kiev] permission to fire long-range weapons at civilian infrastructure in Russia, and supplying the Kiev regime with antipersonnel mines. These factors cannot be ignored," he said.

The New York Times reported on Sunday, citing unnamed US administration officials, that outgoing US President Joe Biden had for the first time authorized Ukraine to use US-supplied long-range ATACMS missiles to strike deep into Russia. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov described the move as escalatory.
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