Russian President Vladimir Putin welcomed Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko to Moscow on Wednesday where the two men began two days of talks. During opening remarks to the press, neither leader mentioned the war in Ukraine, an issue that much of the international press would have expected to hear about. Lukashenko, an important ally to the Russian president, has long called for the conflict to come to an end while also maintaining public support for Putin and the Russian Federation.
According to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, who announced the two-day talks last week, the two leaders are expected to discuss Lukashenko’s call for a ceasefire in Ukraine. However, following an announcement in February that Russia will deploy nuclear weapons to Belarus by the summer, the discussions are also likely to focus on logistical matters relating to the moving of these weapons to new storage facilities in Belarus.
In a joint press conference, Putin praised Russia’s relationship with Belarus and promised to discuss new ways the countries can cooperate.
“I must say that we have done a lot as a result of our joint work in all areas,” Putin said. “We will discuss all of this tomorrow. This applies to our cooperation in the international arena and jointly solving questions of ensuring the security of our states.”
Putin and Lukashenko will meet ahead of a session of the Supreme State Council (SSC) of the Union State of Russia and Belarus. The council, formed in 1997, governs the supranational union made up of the two countries. The Union State was originally formed with the intention of establishing a confederation, but the two countries have since maintained their independence. Lukashenko himself signed the founding treaty of the Union State in April, 1997, along with former Russian President Boris Yeltsin.
Is Russia Preparing for New Hostilities?
The meeting not only comes in the wake of Putin’s promise to deploy nuclear weapons to Belarus, but also follows the announcement that Finland officially became a NATO member state.
On Tuesday, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said that the decision could result in future hostilities between Russia and the West.
“The North Atlantic block is strengthening its anti-Russian course, which is leading to an escalation of the conflict,” Shoigu reportedly told Russian military officials. “NATO is carrying out a set of measures to increase the combat readiness of the Joint Armed Forces, intensifying combat training and reconnaissance activities near the borders of Russia and Belarus.”
The Russian official added that Western countries continuing to send military equipment, and now warplanes, to Ukraine presents a “risk of a significant expansion of the conflict.”
Shoigu also confirmed that Russia began training Belarusian soldiers on Monday on how to use ballistic missile systems.
Jack Buckby is 19FortyFive’s Breaking News Editor. He is a British author, counter-extremism researcher, and journalist based in New York. Reporting on the U.K., Europe, and the U.S., he works to analyze and understand left-wing and right-wing radicalization, and reports on Western governments’ approaches to the pressing issues of today. His books and research papers explore these themes and propose pragmatic solutions to our increasingly polarized society.
