MOSCOW (Reuters), – Russia and Belarus will conduct joint military drills February 1, Alexander Lukashenko, the Belarusian leader, said Monday amid rising tensions over Ukraine.

Russia is a close ally to Belarus and has been worrying the West with its troop buildup at Ukraine’s borders, as well as threatening rhetoric. This raises fears of an invasion.

Moscow has denied any such plans, but used the standoff as a means to demand security guarantees from Western countries, which include a halt in NATO expansion and formal veto of Ukraine joining NATO.

“We had intended to commence exercises in February. Tell your defence minister to set a date.

Since cracking down in 2020 on protests and creating a migrant crisis within the European Union in 2019, the Belarusian leader has been a pariah to the West and said that the exercises will be held at Belarus’s western and southern borders.

Moscow considers the ex-Soviet republic of 9.5million a buffer state. The country borders Ukraine to its South and NATO members Poland to its West.

‘NORMAL EXERCISES’

Lukashenko has become closer to the Kremlin since the West rejected him. In comments distributed by the Defence Ministry, Lukashenko accused Ukraine of building troops close to Belarus.

He claimed that Poland and its Baltic neighbors had over 30,000 soldiers.

He stated, “These should just be routine exercises for the preparation of a specific plan against these forces: The west (Baltics and Poland)” according to state Belta news agency.

Separately, the Kremlin stated that Moscow had right to worry about reports that Estonia is ready to receive up to 5,000 NATO soldiers.

Dmitry Peskov (Kremlin spokesperson) said, “It is precisely things like those that prove we have reasons to be worried and it proves not we’re the cause for escalating tensions.”

On a conference phone, he was asked for his opinion after a Russian high ranking official denied to say whether Russia would be able to launch missiles against Venezuela or Cuba in the event that Russia refused to provide security guarantees to Moscow.

We’re not talking about Latin America. But we do mean sovereign states. He said that Russia was considering how to protect its security in light of current circumstances. “We are reviewing various scenarios.”