The US State Department ordered family members of staff at the US Embassy in Belarus to leave the country as well as advised American citizens to refrain from traveling to the eastern European country where an "unusual and concerning" build-up of Military forces takes place.
In an updated travel advisory issued on Monday, per CNN, the State Department told US citizens located or considering travel to Belarus "should be aware that the situation is unpredictable and there is heightened tension in the region" brought by "an increase in unusual and concerning Russian military activity near the border with Ukraine."
The advisory said that US citizens are "strongly advised against traveling to Belarus" because of the "severely limited" ability to provide routine or emergency services to Americans in the country due to " Belarusian government limitations on US Embassy staffing."
The development came as the UN Security Council conducted a meeting addressing the rising Ukraine tensions on Monday.
According to US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the US government has obtained information that Moscow plans to assemble more than 30,000 troops at the Belarus-Ukraine border by early February, with 5,000 already positioned in the area.
Last week, the US State Department had ordered the departure of employees from the US Embassy in Ukraine because of the "continued threat" of a Russian invasion. However, the decision was criticized by the Ukrainian administration.
Russia-Belarus Military Exercises Relocated
Over the weekend, Russia announced the relocation of its scheduled naval exercises with Belarus off the coast of Ireland as Dublin raised concerns, according to a report by Al Jazeera.
The exercises were supposed to be held on February 3 to 8 240km (150 miles) off southwestern Ireland in international waters but still within Ireland's exclusive economic zone. But Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney objected to the war games amid the rising military tension "in the context of what's happening with and in Ukraine."
The fact that they are choosing to do it on the western borders, if you like, of the EU, off the Irish coast, is something that in our view is not welcome," Coveney said.
Ireland is not a member of NATO, but it is among the 27 nations comprising the European Union.
On Saturday, the Russian Embassy in Ireland posted a letter from Ambassador Yuriy Filatov on Facebook, saying that the military exercises will be moved outside Ireland's exclusive economic zone and committed to "not to hinder fishing activities."
Belarus is Ready for War
Russia has started sending thousands of its troops into Belarus in preparation for the upcoming combat exercises this week. Though the move concerns the US and its European allies, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko assured that war would only happen if "aggression is committed against Belarus" or "ally" Russia.
"If our country faces an aggression, there will be hundreds of thousands of Russian soldiers here, who will defend this sacred land together with hundreds of thousands of Belarusians," Lukashenko said in a national address, per Politico.
According to the Russian defense ministry, soldiers, two battalions of S-400 surface-to-air missile systems, Sukhoi Su-35 fighter jets, and a Pantsir missile system are already set in the eastern European nation to conduct joint military drills this week.
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