Last week, Russia unveiled a plan to station nuclear weapons in Belarus, which is fast becoming a Russian satellite state. If that plan goes through, it would be the first time since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991 that Russia would deploy nuclear weapons outside its borders.
Belarusian dictator Lukashenko, who was interviewed on the matter last night, said it should be “understood from a strategic point of view that Minsk and Moscow have a unique opportunity to join hands,” Lukashenko said. “No one is against the bond Kazakhstan and other neighboring countries have with each other.”
Nuclear threat
Lukashenko, one of Putin’s staunchest supporters, has even tried to get countries to join the Russian-Belarusian alliance by showcasing nuclear weapons. “If anyone is worried, it’s very simple: join the union between Belarus and Russia,” Lukashenko said. “Then there will be nuclear weapons for everyone.”
He added that that was his view on the matter, not Russia’s. Russia and Belarus are both part of the so-called Union State, a borderless alliance between the two former Soviet republics.
War
A bond that Russia has so far exploited to its advantage. Much of the Russian attacks on neighboring Ukraine have been launched from Belarus. Since then, military cooperation has intensified, including training exercises on Belarusian territory.
Just yesterday, the Belarusian Defense Ministry said a new squadron of S-400 missile systems had arrived from Moscow. Such systems should be ready for use in the near future.