The Pentagon commented "joining" Minsk for a special operation in Ukraine

Washington, December 20 – Pentagon spokesman Patrick Ryder said on Tuesday that the United States sees no indication that Belarus is preparing to participate in a special Russian military operation in Ukraine.

The day before, on the day of Putin’s visit to Minsk, the State Department warned of the possibility of additional sanctions in the event of increased support for the Russian operation from Belarus.

Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine on February 24. President Vladimir Putin described his goal as “protecting people who have been bullied and genocide by the Kyiv regime for eight years.” For this, according to him, it is planned to carry out the “demilitarization and demilitarization of Ukraine”, to bring to justice all those responsible for “bloody crimes against civilians” in Donbass.