MOSCOW (Reuters) – The Belarusian defence ministry said on Tuesday it does not rule out a forceful response to what it perceives as military threats, the TASS news agency reported.
The defence ministry said any threat would be met with a response within the framework of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO), a post-Soviet security bloc that includes Russia.
It said a number of neighbouring countries were trying to damage relations between Minsk and Moscow, the day after Russian President Vladimir Putin welcomed embattled Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko to Sochi.
(Reporting by Anton Kolodyazhnyy; Writing by Alexander Marrow; Editing by Catherine Evans)
