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Agence France-Presse

Several hundred US troops started arriving in Nato member Lithuania for military exercises near the border with Belarus, where tensions are mounting over its disputed presidential election.
More than a dozen Abrams tanks crossed the Lithuanian border from neighbouring Nato partner Poland on Saturday afternoon.
The deployment, to last until November, is “pre-planned and not associated with any events in the region”, a Lithuanian defence ministry statement said.
Lithuania took the lead in European diplomacy on Belarus after veteran strongman Alexander Lukashenko was re-elected in an August 9 vote that the opposition claims was rigged.

Vilnius has given refuge to opposition challenger Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, who claimed victory in the ballot, and has blacklisted Lukashenko along with Baltic neighbours Estonia and Latvia.
Maintaining that he won the ballot fairly, Lukashenko has cracked down on an unprecedented wave of mass protests demanding his ouster.
He has also accused the Nato defence alliance of building up forces in Poland and Lithuania along Belarus’s western border.
Warsaw, Vilnius and the Western defence alliance have dubbed these allegations baseless.
Who can replace Lukashenko in Belarus?
Belarus’s Soviet-era master Russia, which has long courted Lukashenko as a buffer against the West, has promised him military support.
Preparations for the military exercises came as thousands of protesters took to the streets of the Belarusian capital, Minsk, and other cities in a further challenge to the rule of Lukashenko.
The crowds of female demonstrators, who had responded to an opposition call for a “women’s march”, included many holding up the white-red-white flag of the opposition and others carrying flowers.
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas warned that unless Lukashenko responded to the European Union’s concerns, more sanctions could follow those already agreed by the bloc.
Lukashenko needed to talk to the opposition and agree to rerun the election, Maas told the Bild newspaper.
The crackdown on protests in Belarus appeared to show no sign of letting up however.
Charges are expected against protesters who were arrested on Friday, the country’s Interior Ministry said.
About 40 demonstrators were detained, but only about half of them will face charges, the ministry said.
It was also revealed that prominent opposition politician Olga Kovalkova had also left Belarus, for neighbouring Poland.
She told internet news site tut.by that she had been pressured into leaving by authorities and that she wants to return to Minsk soon.
The 36-year-old Kovalkova, a confidante of Tikhanovskaya’s, was arrested in August and spent several days in detention before being released on Thursday.
Additional reporting by DPA


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Belarus

Hundreds of US troops arrive in Lithuania as Belarus tensions mount

Members of the US Army 2nd Brigade 69th Regiment 2nd Battalion are pictured at Mockava railway station in Lithuania. Photo: AFP

US Army Abrams tanks of the 2nd Brigade 69th Regiment 2nd Battalion are pictured at Mockava railway station in Lithuania, on September 5, 2020. - Several hundred US troops started arriving in NATO member Lithuania on Saturday for military exercises near the border with Belarus, where tensions are mounting over its disputed presidential election. (Photo by PETRAS MALUKAS / AFP)

Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania ban Belarusian President Lukashenko amid crackdown on opposition

Belarusian servicemen stand behind a barbed wire fence during an opposition supporters rally protesting against disputed presidential elections results in Minsk. Photo: AFP

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko listens to Valiantsin Sukala, head of the Supreme Court of Belarus during their meeting in Minsk, Belarus, Monday, Aug. 31, 2020. (Nikolai Petrov/BelTA Pool Photo via AP)

TOPSHOT - A protester (L) speaks with a Belarusian serviceman as opposition supporters rally to protest against disputed presidential elections results in Minsk on August 30, 2020. - Tens of thousands of opposition supporters marched through Minsk on August 30, calling for an end to strongman Alexander Lukashenko's rule amid a heavy security presence and despite dozens of arrests. Belarus protests have entered a third week since the disputed presidential election on August 9 in which Lukashenko claimed victory. (Photo by - / TUT.BY / AFP)

Who can replace Lukashenko in Belarus?

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko addresses his supporters during a rally in Minsk, Belarus. Photo: EPA

Two women kiss covered by an old Belarusian national flag as Belarusian opposition supporters gather towards the Independence Palace in Minsk, Belarus, Sunday, Aug. 30, 2020. Tens of thousands of demonstrators have gathered in the capital of Belarus, beginning the fourth week of daily protests demanding that the country's authoritarian president resign. The protests began after an Aug. 9 presidential election that protesters say was rigged and officials say gave President Alexander Lukashenko a sixth term in office. (AP Photo)

Belarusian opposition supporters with old Belarusian national flags gather towards the Independence Palace in Minsk, Belarus, Sunday, Aug. 30, 2020. Tens of thousands of demonstrators gathered in the capital of Belarus, beginning the fourth week of daily protests demanding that the country's authoritarian president resign. The protests began after an Aug. 9 presidential election that protesters say was rigged and officials say gave President Alexander Lukashenko a sixth term in office. (AP Photo)

Former presidential candidate Andrei Sannikov gestures from a car after he was released from a prison and arrived in Minsk, April 15, 2012. Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko on Saturday freed jailed opposition leader Andrei Sannikov after the European Union imposed new sanctions on the former Soviet republic, Sannikov told Reuters. Sannikov, a former deputy foreign minister and presidential candidate, was sentenced to five years in prison last year for taking part in a protest that followed Lukashenko's disputed re-election victory in December 2010. REUTERS/Vasily Fedosenko (BELARUS - Tags: CRIME LAW POLITICS SOCIETY)

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Soldiers were due to take part in series of military exercises near the border with Belarus
Lithuanian official says the deployment is ‘not associated with any events in the region’



Soldiers were due to take part in series of military exercises near the border with Belarus.


Hundreds of US troops arrive in Lithuania as Belarus tensions mount

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;} Soldiers were due to take part in series of military exercises near the border with Belarus Lithuanian official says the deployment is ‘not associated with any events in the region’

Soldiers were due to take part in series of military exercises near the border with Belarus

Lithuanian official says the deployment is ‘not associated with any events in the region’