Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said Monday he had a commitment from his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, that in the event of Western aggression against Belarus, Russia would defend the neighboring country “as if it were its own territory”.
“In conversations [com Putin] it was stipulated that, in case of aggression against Belarus, the Russian Federation will defend Belarus as if it were its own territory. This is the kind of security guarantee we need.”said Lukashenko, quoted by the Belarusian state news agency Belta.
Lukashenko traveled to Moscow last week to meet with Putin and also to attend the meeting of the Supreme Council of the State Union, an alliance that integrates the two countries.
Led by Alexander Lukashenko since 1994, Belarus, a neighbor of the European Union (EU), is linked to Moscow by a treaty that established the State Union. The treaty, which updated a 1997 agreement, was signed on December 8, 1999 by Putin and Lukashenko.
At last week’s meeting, the two leaders mainly discussed security issues in the context of the war in Ukraine triggered by a Russian military offensive that began on February 24, 2022.
Last Monday, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu traveled to Minsk to continue talks on Belarus’ territorial security.
According to Belta, Lukashenko thanked Shoigu for Moscow’s decision to keep troops on Belarusian territory, “despite all the difficulties”.
“We cannot relax. Poles and Lithuanians are starting to come to us. So this is a great help and support for the Belarusian army, which protects the State Union on the western flank”said Lukashenko.
Along the same lines, Shoigu appreciated the fact that Minsk had set up five military training camps on Belarusian territory for Russian troops.
“They are equipped, very equipped. And they have enough instructors and armed forces officers to train”Shoigu emphasized.
At the end of March, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced an agreement for the installation of Russian tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of Belarus, in response to the British announcement of the supply of depleted uranium ammunition to the Ukrainian armed forces.
As early as April, Russia indicated that the decision to send short-range tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus is a response to the decision by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to move closer to Russia’s borders.
The Russian military offensive on Ukrainian territory plunged Europe into what is considered the most serious security crisis since World War II (1939-1945).
Source: DN
