MINSK. Aug 15 (Interfax) - The probability of direct military confrontation with NATO is quite high, Belarusian Defense Minister Viktor Khrenin said.
"National and coalition strategic planning documents of Western states openly name adversaries. Nowadays these are Russia, China and their allies, including Belarus," Khrenin said at the Moscow Conference on International Security on Tuesday. The Belarusian Defense Ministry's channel aired his speech.
"Such doctrinal provisions do not come out of the blue. Intensive military preparations are being made in the West, and the related investments are significant. It is necessary to understand that no one in the capitalist world will freeze their assets in weapons of a bloated army for nothing. So, there is only one conclusion to be drawn: the probability of direct military confrontation with NATO becomes quite obvious in the future," he said.
The West may use regular units under the guise of a fight for national liberation, Khrenin said.
"Belarus's neighbors also train armed militants from among criminals that fled from Belarus in their territories. They openly say they will be using them to mount armed attacks on the Belarusian state," Khrenin said.
From the military point of view, such formations "do not pose a significant threat, however, regular military units and formations of Western countries may operate under their flag," Khrenin said. It will be very difficult to prove their involvement in aggression from the point of view of international law, "as they would claim that Belarusians are fighting Belarusians, Russians are fighting Russians, and so on," he said.
It comes as no surprise that Belarus is an actively participant in integration processes in the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and seeks to join the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and BRICS, he said.
"Our future heavily depends on the joint, consolidated work. This is why we frequently talk about the need for stronger integration," Khrenin said.