Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko, in a joint response with the Kremlin, has accused the United States of setting up bases while conducting an annual military exercise in Ukraine, involving thousands of troops from NATO member countries. Ukraine, together with service members from more than a dozen nations, launched Rapid Trident 21—an annual Ukrainian-led, American-assisted training exercise—on Sept. 20 to increase combat readiness and defense capabilities. “You see, they are dragging NATO troops there, to Ukraine. Under the guise of training centers, they are actually creating bases. The United States is creating bases in Ukraine. It is clear that we need to react to this,” the authoritarian leader said on Sept. 27 at a meeting with officials in the presidential palace in Minsk. “The Russian president and I have held and are holding consultations on this issue and have agreed that some action should be taken there. “Otherwise, tomorrow we will …