MOSCOW (Reuters) -- Expansion of NATO military infrastructure in Ukraine crosses a red line for Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Kremlin said on Monday, saying Russia and Belarus would act to protect their own security.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko earlier on Monday said he and Putin had agreed during talks to react to what he described as increased activity by NATO and U.S. troops in Ukraine.
In particular, Lukashenko accused the U.S. of setting up military training centers in Ukraine which he said amounted to military bases.
“(We) agreed that we need to take some kind of measures in response,” Lukashenko was quoted as saying by the RIA news agency.
Lukashenko also blamed the West for what he said was a looming humanitarian catastrophe this winter after migrants were left stranded and freezing on the Belarusian-Polish border.
Ukraine is not a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization but has long sought closer integration with Western militaries in the hope of one day joining the alliance, a move opposed by Belarus’ main ally, Russia.
Ukraine began joint military exercises with U.S. and other NATO member troops last week, while Russia and Belarus held large-scale drills that alarmed the West.
“You see, they are dragging NATO troops there, to Ukraine. Under the guise of training centers, they are actually creating bases. The United States is creating bases in Ukraine. It is clear that we need to react to this,” Lukashenko said at a meeting with officials in the presidential palace in Minsk.
Three migrants died on the Polish side of the border and one more just inside Belarus this month. A fifth death - of an Iraqi man on Poland’s side of the border, from a suspected heart attack, was reported on Friday.
Lukashenko said Belarus had treated the migrants well.
“Yes, we dressed them, we brought them some firewood and some shawls. But they would freeze in winter,” Lukashenko said.”In short: it’s a humanitarian catastrophe on the border.”