U.S. and Belarus Exchange Non-Resident Defense Attachés

Charge d’affaires a.i. George Noll, and Colonel Michael C. VanDeVelde meet with Major General Oleg Voinov, Chief of the International Military Cooperation Department, Assistant to the Defense Minister for Foreign Military Policy.

On August 8, Colonel Michael C. VanDeVelde received accreditation from the Government of Belarus as non-resident Defense Attaché from the United States of America to the Republic of Belarus.  His Belarusian counterpart Lieutenant Colonel Andrei Mishuta will be accredited as a non-resident Defense Attaché in Washington, D.C. this month.  Colonel VanDeVelde’s accreditation represents the next step in US-Belarus efforts to restore military-to-military cooperation.  The accreditation of defense attaches is a result of discussions held in March 2016 during the visit of Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Dr. Michael Carpenter.