NATO says Russian buildup in Belarus is biggest in 30 years

By LORNE COOK and SUZAN FRASER
Associated Press

BRUSSELS (AP) — NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg is concerned about Russia’s continued military buildup around Ukraine. He says Moscow has now deployed more troops and military equipment to neighboring Belarus that at any time in the last 30 years. More than 100,000 Russian troops are stationed near Ukraine’s northern and eastern borders. That raises concern that Moscow might invade again as it did in 2014. Russian officials deny an invasion is planned. Stoltenberg said Thursday that the buildup in Belarus is the biggest Russian deployment there since the Cold War, and that Russian troop numbers there are likely to climb to 30,000. On the diplomatic front, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has held a three-hour meeting with Ukraine’s  President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.