Ukraine has boosted its forces in the northern region near Belarus to counter any possible renewed Russian attack across the border, Ukraine's General Staff said on Thursday.

"At the current time the creation of a strike force (in Belarus) is not observable. (But) there are and will be threats. We are reacting, we have already increased our troops in the northern direction," Oleksii Hromov, deputy head of the General Staff's Main Operations Directorate, told a regular briefing.

Belarus is Russia's main ally in the conflict and has allowed Russian forces to use its territory as a springboard to attack Ukraine. (Reporting by Pavel Polityuk Writing by Gareth Jones)