The presence of the U.S. officers is the latest sign of warming ties between Washington and Belarus, a close Russian ally that allowed Moscow to use its territory to send tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine in February 2022.

President Trump said he believes the more than three-year war in Ukraine would end if all NATO countries stopped buying oil from Russia and placed tariffs on China for its purchases of Russian petroleum. The announcement came as Romania became the second NATO country to report a Russian drone incursion.