Russia will extend military drills in Belarus that were due to end on Sunday, the Belarusian defence ministry announced, in a step US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said made him more worried about an imminent invasion of Ukraine.
The defence ministry said the decision was taken because of military activity near the borders of Russia and Belarus as well as the situation in eastern Ukraine's Donbass region.
Incidents of shelling across the line dividing Ukrainian government forces and Russian-backed separatists in that region – which were sporadic in the past – increased sharply last week and continued on Sunday.
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