Minsk claims it Ukraine didn't "officially request" to withdraw troops from border

Anatoliy Glaz, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belarus, has claimed that Minsk did not receive an "official request" from Ukraine to withdraw troops from the Ukrainian-Belarusian border.

Source: European Pravda with reference to Belta

Details: Glaz claimed that the official Minsk did not receive any requests from the Ukrainian side regarding the withdrawal of troops "in any form", and that they saw the statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine "on the Internet" where "all sorts of things get posted".

"So we would be grateful if someone were able to explain the logic of such statements to us. In our opinion, it [the logic] is quite elaborate," he claimed.

Glaz repeated Belarusian propaganda about Ukrainian drones allegedly launched near Belarus, and "constant provocation" from the Ukrainian side, which supposedly forced the Belarusian Armed Forces to perform "missions to facilitate security of the territory of Belarus and our citizens".

"But this is classic logic, you know. We don’t know what the logic of the Ukrainian side is, though. Maybe there is some elaborate scheme, aimed at the Ukrainian population or to receive praise from the West. However, the most important thing in such a game is not to outsmart your own self," he added.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, with reference to intelligence agencies, reported earlier that Belarus concentrated "considerable forces" near northern borders in close proximity to the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant.

Background:

• In the middle of August, Alexander Lukashenko, the self-proclaimed president of Belarus, claimed that he "had to" transfer almost a third of the whole Belarusian army to the border with Ukraine, but that after clarifying their intentions both Kyiv and Minsk had allegedly decreased the size of their groupings from their sides of the border.
• The State Border Guard Service of Ukraine then reported that it had not seen an increase in the number of equipment or personnel of Belarusian troops near the border with Ukraine.

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