Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko on Monday said that Belarus and Russia agreed to deploy a joint military force in response to tensions on the western borders of the “Union State,” which refers to the combined territories of the two nations.
“In the wake of escalations on the western borders of the Union State, we agreed on deploying a regional group of forces of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus,” Lukashenko said, according to the Russian news agency TASS.
The Belarusian leader didn’t specify where the troops might be deployed. He said Russia and Belarus began combining troops two days ago, after the Ukrainian attack on the Kerch Bridge, which links Crimea to the Russian mainland.
The Belarusian leader claimed that Ukraine is discussing plans to launch attacks on Belarus. “I have already said that Ukraine today it is not just discussing but planning strikes on Belarusian territory,” he said.
Lukashenko said it would be “madness” for Ukraine to open a second front but that “nevertheless, the process has begun.” He claimed that Ukraine’s Western backers are pushing for an attack on Belarus.
Russia launched part of its initial invasion from Belarusian territory, but so far, Belarus has not entered the war. The US and its allies have been driving Russia and Belarus closer together by imposing sanctions on both nations. Russian President Vladimir Putin has previously said that this pressure from the West is pushing the “unification process” between Russia and Belarus.
Russia and Belarus signed a treaty in 1997 known as the Union State that would integrate the two nations. Under the agreement, they would remain separate sovereign states, but Russian and Belarusian citizens would be granted citizenship for both countries and would be able to travel freely.
Well they have been sanctioned for not joining the war so they might as well join it.
If your country is Hosting Russian soldiers and weaponry as well as providing your nation’s ground and airspace to facilitate an invasion/attack on Ukraine, you have joined the war indirectly hence the sanctions. They have joined the war by physically supporting Russia.
You should know this better.
One could easily make the same argument about the NATO countries that you do about Belarus. NATO is exploiting a Russo-Ukrainian conflict and prolonging a conflict that would have been over many months ago. How many are dead and maimed as a result? And for what? To make some kind of anti-Russian statement?
We have soldiers and aircraft stationed all over Europe.
And the nuclear-armed subs of the Trident program, based in Scotland.
Yes, you are right but we were talking about Belarus.
We sing the NATO song all day here.
In my opinion, Lukashenko is just an empty wagon saying things Putin wants to hear. The Belarusian Army is less trained and equipped than the Russian one. If the Belarussian Army crosses the border into Northern Ukraine, they will get lit up badly by the better trained, equipped, and experience Ukraine fighters. Plus, the Belarusian people including soldiers identify more with the Ukraine cause so we may see some rebellion there. Not to mention a potential national protest Lukashenko will have to deal with on the home front.
I don’t believe Lukashenko is truly planning to “deploy” his troops into Ukraine. It’ll be more of a direct support from Russian territory for the Russian troops operating in the rear.
Lukashenko isn’t “planning” anything. He’s a satrap. He gets instructions/orders from Moscow, and follows them.
Every European dictator has two potential opponents. One: a group which wants democracy. Two: a group which wants another dictator.
I suspect but have no proof that Lukashenko might have domestic troubles for which he asked and got Putin’s back.
NATO-US could be seriously plotting a regime change which would be enormously helpful for Ukraine.
The US has been plotting regime change in Minsk for quite some time. I can’t remember what color the last color revolution was. (The CIA/NED/etc. may have to adopt a two-color scheme. They’re in danger of running out of single colors be for they run out of target countries.)
You need to update your understanding of Russian-Belarusian relations, Thomas. The thuggish Lukashenko is definitely not a satrap.
You’re correct that he is subordinate to Putin in the current bloody NATO-Russia disaster. He doesn’t have much choice, since the US-NATO leaders despise him, have organized color revolutions against his regime and would love to bring him down along with Putin.
That latter desire of the West is no doubt the reason the suicidally-reckless misadventurers in Kiev have been engaging in provocation along the border with Belarus in recent days.
“That latter desire of the West is no doubt the reason the suicidally-reckless misadventurers in Kiev have been engaging in provocation along the border with Belarus in recent days.”
Where’d you get this from? RT news?
I thought it was Belarus doing the harassment.
Why would you think only one party to a conflict like this would engage in harassment?
Also, do you have some reason to believe that Russian media is less reliable/more propagandistic than the sources from which most Westerners get news about this war? I assure you: that is not the case.
Attacks on that border have come from Belarus. Evidence is there.
Both sides media push lies but the abundance of BS come from the Russian side and there is plenty of proof.
Share the evidence and proof. Be specific ad provide links.
Yes, of course you would ask for that.
Go find it. Open source.
That’s like asking for proof that Russia has struck civilian targets or that it invaded Ukraine.
Of course I would ask for it! If you were an honest and knowledgeable participant here, you would have provided it when you made the claim that it exists and no one would need to ask.
Argumentation practices such as yours, here, wouldn’t win a spot on a third-string high school debate team.
Lukashenko is his own man, and he is frequently even more cautious than Putin.
He is also the only leader of the post-Soviet period who, astonishingly enough, simply did not allow the humanitarian catastrophe of Yeltsin’s period to take place in Belorussia.
He is subordinate to Putin in all respects since Putin saved him from last year’s uprising. While Belarus never really ceased being part of the Russian empire, that status has been recently reinforced. Lukashenko can’t afford to get uppity and start snubbing the tsar like the satraps in Chechnya, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan are doing.
In recent years, Lukashenko has been quite uppity. That has especially been true over the past two or three, IIRC. Didn’t Lukashenko claim that Wagner Group mercs were messing with his most recent glorious reelection campaign?
Until the run-up to the February invasion, the Putin-Lukashenko relationship looked kinda rocky. They are definitely best buds again now. They need each other.
“Today, more than at perhaps any point in American history, financial power rests in the hands of those with the least interest in the truth.”. Terrorism, bridge destruction, is the weapon of the weak. Yesterday’s attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure are a turning point. Psychological ‘feel good’ victories are a defeat if the war gets nastier. If it wasn’t the PLO would be in control in the middle East & the Syrian rebels would of won. I am antiwar.