Russia and Belarus will extend their largest joint military exercise in years, the Belarusian Defense Ministry said, as friction with the West escalates over Russia’s military build-up near the Ukrainian border.

The drills are scheduled to end on Sunday and Russia has said it will return its troops to their bases afterward. While this exercise is taking place in Belarus, which is located in the north UkraineThe Ministry of Defense statement cited the deteriorating situation in eastern Ukraine for an extension.

He also referred to increased military activity along the Russian and Belarusian borders, possibly referring to the recent deployment of more troops to the east by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

Russia’s state-owned Tass news service also reported on the extension. The Belarusian statement did not say how long the drills would last. It comes as the United States and some of its allies say they believe Russian President Vladimir Putin has decided to attack Ukraine and an attack could be imminent. Moscow has repeatedly denied having any plans to do so and has dismissed the US claims as propaganda and “hysteria”.

Fighting between Russian-backed separatists and Ukrainian forces in the breakaway eastern Donbas region has intensified in recent days. There have been reciprocal reports of ceasefire violations that have been unstable since 2015.

Ukraine says separatist leaders are increasing the rate of fire, including against civilian targets, to force a response and create justifications for an invasion by Ukraine. Russia. Donbas leaders say they returned fire from the Ukrainian side.

About 30,000 Russian troops may be in Belarus, making it the largest military concentration there since the Cold War, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said before the start of the drills. The United States estimates that Russia has amassed as many as 190,000 troops, including troops, National Guard units and Russian-backed separatists, in and around Ukraine.

The crisis has brought allies from Minsk and Moscow. Putin and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko on Saturday led drills by Russia’s strategic nuclear forces from the Kremlin situation space, which included tests of cruise and ballistic missiles.

French President Emmanuel Macron spoke to Putin by phone on Sunday in a bid to find a political solution to the crisis, which threatens to become Europe’s biggest conflict since World War Two.

US President Joe Biden briefed allies on Friday with details of a possible planned Russian invasion, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson told the BBC.

“Not only do you see the invasion through the east, through the Donbas, but according to the intelligence we saw, it was coming from the north, it was coming down from Belarus, and it was actually happening around Kiev itself, as Joe Biden explained to us a lot,” said Johnson.