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Russian President Vladimir Putin made a rare visit to Minsk on Monday to double down on military cooperation in areas such as ballistic missiles and nuclear-capable warplanes, as fears grew in Kyiv that Belarus could become involved in a ground war against Ukraine. Is.
It was Putin’s first visit to Belarus since 2019, which is significant because it is the usual arrangement for Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko to travel to Moscow to pay tribute to his close ally.
At a joint press conference, Lukashenko said that Belarus had deployed the Russian-made Iskander mobile ballistic missile system with a range of up to 500 kilometers, while Putin said there was room for further cooperation on the Sukhoi-24 warplanes that have been developed for strategic purposes. modified to carry. nuclear weapon.
Putin said that it was now possible to “continue the implementation” of Lukashenko’s earlier proposals on these aircraft, which would mean “the training of crews of combat aircraft of the Belarusian army, which are already Revised For the possible use of air-based ammunition with a special warhead.
However, Lukashenko tried to downplay any suggestion that there was a nuclear saber-rattling amount.
“It is not a threat to anyone,” Lukashenko added during the press conference, which was broadcast online. “We are deeply concerned about tensions along the periphery of the Union Territory [of Russia and Belarus]mainly in the west.
Lukashenko said that Russia also supplied the S-400 air missile defense system to Belarus.
In the early weeks of the full-scale invasion of Russia, Minsk allowed Russian forces to use its territory as a springboard for attacks on northern Ukraine and Kyiv, as well as providing medical aid to wounded Russian forces.
Following the withdrawal of Russian troops from northern Ukraine and areas around Kyiv, Belarusian authorities have provided their territory to Russia for launching missile strikes against Ukraine and for training Russian troops.
During the press conference, Putin and Lukashenko did not comment on Minsk’s possible involvement in Russia’s ground campaign following Moscow’s nearly 10-month war on Ukraine and a series of setbacks for Russian troops.
However, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissed the idea that Putin’s visit to Minsk was intended to pressure Lukashenko into stepping up in the brutal war. Peskov called such accusations from Kyiv “groundless and stupid speculation”.
However, Kyiv has little in store for what the Kremlin says.
On Sunday, Serhiy Nayev, commander of the United Forces of Ukraine, a video statement That Putin held an official meeting with the leadership of the Russian military last week, during which, “they considered the military command’s proposals for the near and medium term.”
“Soon after that, he announced a meeting with the leadership of Belarus … In our opinion, during this meeting, further aggression against Ukraine and the wider involvement of the Armed Forces of Belarus in operations against Ukraine, in particular From on the ground, work will be done,” said Nayev.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday held a meeting of the staff of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, during which its members “considered the situation in Belarus.”
“Information was heard about the actual number and armament of enemy military groups. The President’s media office said the commanders noted the readiness of the defense forces to respond to any developments a statement,
The meeting between Putin and Lukashenko took place against the backdrop of a massive attack by Iranian-made drones on the Ukrainian capital in the early hours of Monday, which damaged much of the energy infrastructure in the city.
“These are [drones] Shahad from the new batch received from Iran to Russia. 250 items – so many martyrs have now been received by the terrorist state,” Zelensky told Meeting of leaders of UK’s Joint Operations Force (JEF) on the same day.
The Ukrainian president urged British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to “raise the possibility” of supplies of air defense systems to help speed up decisions by other partners.