During a meeting of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly in Vilnius, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda said that since “Belarus has become de facto part of Russia”, the security situation in the Baltic region has changed dramatically, and NATO’s response time is reduced to zero, reports.

“Putin started with Ukraine. But it is clear that he has bigger plans, such as the destruction of the entire Euro-Atlantic security architecture,” Nauseda stressed..

Russian troops entered the territory of Belarus for the joint exercises " Many experts agree that at the moment Belarus is a territory occupied by Russia.

“Lukashenko has sacrificed the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Belarus,” said David Kramer, managing director for global affairs at the George Bush Institute.. – Belarus was de facto annexed by Russia. Lukashenka, in my opinion, is an accomplice of Putin's invasion of Ukraine. He is involved in what happened there, and in order to stay in power, he became so dependent on Putin that without Putin's support he really cannot survive.. This means that the way to end Lukashenka's nearly 30-year rule is to help Ukraine defeat Russia.. This will mean that Putin will be less able to support Lukashenka to provide him with the critical assistance he needs to stay in power.”.

However, not all experts agree that Belarus has lost its independence..

“Lukashenko, obviously, is practically a puppet of Putin, and we do not know all their agreements. However, it turns out, one way or another, that he contributes to Putin's plans.. But in fact, it cannot be said that Belarus is a part of Russia, - the expert of the German Marshall Fund of the USA Alevtina Snegir believes.. – And it cannot be said that Belarus has already lost its sovereignty. The situation in Ukraine and what is happening now in Belarus are interconnected. Belarusian independence in many respects and the further development of some kind of democratic scenario in Belarus in general depend on the resolution of the situation in Ukraine, t. on how the war will end and when it will end"

“The presence of Russian troops today is not controlled by the Belarusian authorities in any way,” said Valery Kovalevsky, head of the cabinet of representatives of Svetlana Tikhanovskaya.. – They freely enter and leave the territory of Belarus. They launch missiles at Ukrainian cities, launch bombers, attack aircraft, fighters from our territory. We are also talking about the fact that Russia has actually taken control of entire sectors of public administration in Belarus.

These are national security, and foreign policy, and economic security, defense issues" The Belarusian opposition also announced the opening of a representative office of Svetlana Tikhanovskaya in Kyiv.

[see_also ids\u003d"

As previously reported, a maneuverable electronic warfare group of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Belarus was deployed on the territory of the Gomel region of Belarus in the immediate vicinity of the border with Ukraine..