West continues building up military groups near borders of Russia, Belarus — CSTO chief

Western countries continue to systematically build up their military groups and infrastructure near the borders of Russia and Belarus, CSTO Secretary General Imangali Tasmagambetov said on Friday at an expanded meeting of the governing staff of the organization's Secretariat and Joint Staff.

"The build-up of military groups and the development of military infrastructure in the immediate vicinity of Russia's and Belarus's borders continues systematically in the western direction," he said.

Earlier, the Belarusian Foreign Ministry said that the deployment of new NATO forces near the country’s borders and the further expansion of the alliance in Northern Europe constituted an irresponsible escalation and were key factors threatening European security.[TASS]