Russia is opening an airbase in northwestern Belarus, near the Polish
and Lithuanian borders, within just a few months, a Russian Air Force
general said Wednesday.
The airbase, modern Russia’s first on Belarusian soil, will
consolidate bilateral defense collaboration as part of the Union State
of Russia and Belarus, Russian Air Force chief Lieutenant General Viktor
Bondarev told reporters.
Located in Lida, a city of nearly 100,000, the base will be an
important element in the “strategic defense of the Union State,” the
two-star general said, adding that Russian Su-27SM3 fighter jets would
be stationed there.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov
said in May that the base was not being set up in response to
deployment of a US missile shield in Europe that has been strongly
opposed by Russia.
However, Moscow has also taken issue with NATO jets flying combat air
patrols close to Russian airspace. Belarus borders NATO nations Poland,
Latvia and Lithuania.
No comments:
Post a Comment