Russia launches military drills with Belarus as Ukraine tensions continue

Russia and Belarus have launched joint military drills despite concerns in Western countries that Moscow is plotting a major escalation of the conflict in Ukraine.

The exercises, scheduled to continue until February 20 in Belarus, began on Thursday.

They would centre around "suppressing and repelling external aggression", Russia's defence ministry said in a statement.

Soldiers would practise beefing up sections of the Belarus border to block the delivery of weapons and ammunition into the country, among other scenarios, it said.

The games have exacerbated deeply strained ties between Russia and the West, which accuses Moscow of massing approximately 100,000 troops around the borders of Ukraine for a potential invasion.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday called the joint military drills a “psychological pressure.” 

“Today we have enough forces to honourably defend our country," Zelenskyy said in a statement.

Moscow and Minsk have not disclosed how many troops are participating in the drills, but the United States has said Russia was planning to dispatch 30,000 troops personnel to several regions in ex-Soviet Belarus.

Responding to Western concerns, the Kremlin has insisted that it has no intention of leaving the troops permanently on Belarusian territory.

READ MORE: France debriefs US as top UK diplomat flies to Russia to ease impasse

UK readies 1,000 troops

Britain has meanwhile ordered 1,000 troops to be on a state of readiness to provide support in the event of a humanitarian crisis caused by any Russian aggression.

The development comes ahead of a visit by Prime Minister Boris Johnson to the leaders of NATO and Poland on Thursday.

Johnson will go to Brussels and Warsaw to stress the need to hold firm on NATO's principles, and discuss ways that Britain can provide military support.

"The UK remains unwavering in our commitment to European security," Johnson said in a statement. "As an alliance we must draw lines in the snow and be clear there are principles upon which we will not compromise."

Johnson's office repeated on Wednesday that any further military incursion of Ukraine by Russia would likely create the mass forced displacement of people on Europe's border, affecting countries like Poland and Lithuania.

British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss was in Moscow on Thursday for talks with her Russian counterpart to urge the Kremlin not to attack or face "massive consequences" from Western sanctions.

READ MORE: Ukraine: European diplomatic push helping avoid war but tensions persist