OREANDA-NEWS.  “Protecting the border of the Republic of Belarus, we are protecting the western border of the Belarus-Russia Union State,” said the President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, at a meeting on combat training of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Belarus on April 3.

“We are not rattling the sabre, and I would like to emphasise this. Unfortunately we cannot say that peace and stability reign outside Belarus. The latest developments prove this point. The Nato has big plans about the former Soviet republics. I think that Ukraine and Georgia’s Nato membership is a matter of time”, the head of state noted. “The position of Russia, Belarus and other countries of the former Soviet Union is ignored”, Alexander Lukashenko added.

On the western border of the Union State the Belarusian army is the main restraining force. “The treaty with Russia is of paramount importance. We ought to honour it unswervingly like Russia is honouring it and providing a defence shield for Belarus, including a nuclear shield,” the President said.

Speaking about the forthcoming exercise, the Head of State said that the spending on the exercises should be minimal, but at the same time it should be enough to ensure the high quality of the exercises.

Defence Minister of Belarus Colonel-General Leonid Maltsev said that the exercise “Autumn 2008” is aimed at polishing the skills of all security agencies of Belarus in order to ensure the country’s security. According to him, the goal of the exercise is to study modern methods of conducting armed conflict, check the preparedness of the army. These all will help ensure reliable defence of the state. One of the main tasks is to achieve the cohesion of the military organisation of the state.

Once in two years Belarus holds large-scale military exercises involving all branches of the Armed Forces, and every year exercises featuring some specific branch.