Russia-Belarus Military Drills Extended as Ukraine Invasion Fears Intensify

On Sunday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressed his concerns over Russia extending its military drills in Belarus, deepening fears of a Ukraine invasion.

During a TV appearance on CNN's State of the Union, co-host Dana Bash asked Blinken if "news of Russia and Belarus extending their drills makes him more concerned about a potential Russian invasion," in which he responded that "it does" concern him.

Russia began joint military drills with Belarus on February 10 with around 30,000 Russian troops attending the exercises, according to NATO. The drills were supposed to wrap up on Sunday, but the Defense Ministry of Belarus said that those exercises will continue.

"The presidents of Belarus and Russia decided to continue inspections of the readiness of Union State forces," Defense Minister Victor Khrenin said. Officials in Belarus said that drills will continue due to "an increase in military activity" near the borders of Russia and Belarus and the "escalating situation" in Donbas, Ukraine.

"Now they're justifying the continuation of 'exercises' that they said would end now, the continuation indefinitely of those quote-unquote exercises on the situation in eastern Ukraine—a situation that they created by continuing to ramp up tensions," Blinken said on Sunday. "All of this, along with the false flag operations we've seen unfold over the weekend, tells us that the playbook that we laid out is moving forward."

Blinken's remarks come a day after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in an attempt to calm tensions between both countries.

"I don't know what the president of the Russian Federation wants, so I am proposing a meeting," Zelenskyy said at the Munich Security Conference, the Associated Press reported Saturday. "Ukraine will continue to follow only the diplomatic path for the sake of a peaceful settlement."

Moscow has been amassing troops and equipment at its border with the eastern European nation. Russia currently has between 169,000 to 190,000 personnel on the ground in and near Ukraine, according to Michael Carpenter, the U.S. ambassador to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.

On Saturday, Vice President Kamala Harris spoke at the Munich conference and warned against invading Ukraine, which could have Russia face "unprecedented economic costs."

"Let me be clear, I can say with absolute certainty if Russia further invades Ukraine, the United States, together with our allies and partners, will impose significant and unprecedented economic costs," she said.

"We will impose far-reaching financial sanctions and export controls. We will target Russia's financial institutions and key industries. And we will target those who are complicit and those who aid and abet this unprovoked invasion," the vice president continued. "Make no mistake: The imposition of these sweeping and coordinated measures will inflict great damage on those who must be held accountable."