Belarus says Russian troops might not leave unless NATO pulls back from Eastern Europe.

"A day after Belarus and Russia extended their large-scale military drills near Ukraine’s border, the Belarus Defense Ministry signaled on Monday that Russian troops could remain in the country indefinitely.

The message was delivered in a statement by the ministry that said that the withdrawal of Russian troops could depend in large measure on NATO forces first pulling back from countries near Russia and Belarus.

The Defense Ministry, echoing arguments from its Russian allies, described NATO’s presence in Eastern Europe as “aggressive and unfounded,” and said it “increases the likelihood of armed conflict.” Belarus borders NATO members Poland, Lithuania and Latvia.

The statement offered a clear indication of the close military cooperation Belarus has offered to Russia as Moscow amasses troops on three sides of Ukraine. NATO estimates that Russia has deployed 30,000 troops to Belarus for major combat exercises, including near Ukraine’s northern border, close to the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv.

The Belarus Defense Ministry announced on Sunday that joint military exercises that began this month would continue because of what it described as increased military activity on Belarus’ borders and insecurity in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donbas.

The announcement was not a surprise to many Western officials, who have warned that the Kremlin could be using military exercises as a cover for preparing an attack against Ukraine, as it did before Russian troops seized the Crimean Peninsula in 2014.

NATO says the exercises in Belarus constitute Moscow’s largest deployment in the country’s territory since the end of the Cold War. The United States believes Russia has as many as 190,000 troops in or near Ukraine.

The statement on Monday said the removal of NATO forces from Eastern Europe and Belarus’ borders was just one factor that would determine when or if Russian troops withdraw.

“Belarus has the right to demand the withdrawal of the created groupings of U.S. troops and individual NATO member countries from the borders of the Republic of Belarus and the Union State,” the statement said, referring to a putative state of Russia and Belarus.

“The Russian Armed Forces’ units will return to their permanent bases only when an objective need for that arises and when we decide,” said the statement, quoting Viktor Gulevich, Belarus’ first deputy minister of defense.

The U.S. announced on Friday it planned to sell more tanks to Poland in a sign of NATO solidarity. Mr. Putin says NATO’s expansion east since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 into countries bordering Russia is a provocative act that must be reversed."

Dear Lithuanian idiots,

Thank you for trying to overthrow Belorussian government, pushing  with this the Belorussian government to the Russia, and bringing this way Russian nuclear weapons to Belorussian territory close to Vilnius. You are really brilliant idiots.