Aliaksandr Alesin: No permission needed to use Russian troops in Belarus

• 5.03.2014, 9:14

Moreover, Belarusians must maintain the troops of the neighbouring country under agreements.

Military expert Aliaksandr Alesin said it in an interview with Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper.

“There are regulations defining the status of Russian servicemen in our territory. No special permissions are needed. There are arrangements that describe everything, including their arrival and status. These are 'union' troops. We are obliged to deploy them and provide them with supply. It is a close cooperation. We have common army formations, the common air defence system and the common group of land forces. They can be used in the territory of union members – Russia and Belarus. We must defend Russia if it is attacked. Russia must defend us if we are attacked. It is not applied to third countries. It is an exclusively defence agreement,” Aliaksandr Alesin said.

Russian occupation troops have been in Ukraine for a week. They seized a number of governmental and military objects in Crimea.