Lithuania is following closely the joint military exercise of Russia and Belarus, Allied Resolve 2022. As a result of the lack of transparency concerning the exercise, the Baltic states repeated the address to Belarus requesting an explanation on February 12. The answers Belarus had provide on February 11 were found incomplete, therefore Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia filed a request for a meeting with Belarusian representatives in the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) framework.
On February 9 Lithuania, as an OSCE member, availed of the opportunity provided for by the Vienna Document on Confidence and Security-Building Measures and activated the Mechanism for Consultation and Co-operation as regards unusual Military Activities together with Latvia and Estonia.
The three Baltic states filed an inquiry to Belarus concerning the unusual and unplanned build-up of military forces for drills on the territory of Belarus, the number of participating troops, used military equipment, and the deadlines of redeployment of forces to home bases. As bound by the treaty, Belarus provide the answers within 48 hours, however, the reply did not give information about the concrete scope of Exercise Allied Resolve 2022, nor concrete weaponry systems used, nor numbers of participating troops, weaponry and equipment.
The answer did not include a concrete timeline of the return of Russian forces deployed to the exercise to their original locations of service either. The Mechanism for Consultation and Co-operation as regards unusual Military Activities of the Vienna Document on Confidence- and Security-Building Measures (Chapter III: Risk Reduction) of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe enables consultations and cooperation between the parties and thus reduce military risks and prevent military incidents. The currently filed request binds Belarus to meet with the Baltic states within 48 hours too. The meeting is planned to be held on February 14.
Official OSCE website: https://www.osce.org/
