First Russian soldiers arrive in Belarus for joint force: Minsk

The first convoy of Russian forces landed in Belarus on Saturday as part of a regional force "exclusively to enhance the protection and defense of the border" with Ukraine, according to the country's defense ministry.

It comes days after Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, a close ally of his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, announced that Minsk and Moscow will deploy a joint military task force in response to what he termed an escalation of tensions along the country's western borders, reports Al Jazeera.

Images on social media showed soldiers welcomed by women wearing traditional costumes and handing out bread and salt.

Lukashenko also accused Poland, Lithuania and Ukraine of training Belarusian radicals "to carry out sabotage, terrorist attacks and to organise a military mutiny in the country".

The Belarussian president let Moscow's troops to use his nation to launch an invasion of Ukraine. However, Belarusian military troops have not yet joined the operation.

Now, the joint force's deployment raises fears that Belarusian troops could join Russian forces in their offensive in Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russia of "trying to directly draw Belarus into this war" at a G7 meeting on Tuesday, calling for an international observers' mission to be placed on the Ukraine-Belarus border.