NATO conducts nuclear deterrence exercise; Belarus strengthens security on border with Ukraine

* According toNATO statementThe exercise will take place in the northwestern part of Europe - in the airspace of Belgium and the UK, as well as over the North Sea. Combat weapons will not be used in the exercise.

NATO exercise. Photo: AP

Belgian media reported that the center of the exercise will be the Belgian air base Kleine Brogel in the province of Limburg. According to the Belgian Anti-Nuclear Alliance, the country is home to US nuclear warheads. Official authorities have not confirmed this information.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg explained, "These are regularly scheduled exercises conducted to maintain NATO's nuclear capabilities in a safe and effective state." He stressed that the exercise was not related to the current crisis surrounding Ukraine.

According to Belgian television channel RTBF, no aircraft of the NATO member countries' air forces participating in the exercise came close to Russian territory at a distance of less than 1,000 km.

However, the Belgian Anti-Nuclear Alliance has asked the authorities to cancel the exercise due to the tense international situation. The Anti-Nuclear Alliance believes that such exercises on Belgian territory make the country a potential target in the event of a nuclear conflict, especially since NATO headquarters and the main EU institutions are located in the capital Brussels.

In the newly updated NATO Strategic Concept at the Madrid Summit in June this year, the leaders of the military alliance reaffirmed that "as long as nuclear weapons exist, NATO will remain a nuclear alliance."

* Meanwhile,Belarus strengthens security at the borderborder with Ukraine. Mr. Anton Bychkovsky, spokesman for the State Border Committee of Belarus, announced that the country has mobilized border guards and mobile groups of the border service to protect the border area with Ukraine in the face of increased spying activities from the neighboring country.

Belarusian military personnel. Illustrative photo.

In an interview with the Belarusian state television channel ONT, Mr. Bychkovsky stated: "Near our borders are holding various exercises, we see that optical, radio and radio-electronic reconnaissance on the territory of Belarus is being intensified. Of course, we fully assess these threats, and to cope with the situation, Belarus is deploying expanded border guard detachments, actively using border protection means, mobile groups of border guards."