(Reuters) – Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko are scheduled to meet on Sunday, announced the Kremlin. This comes two days after Moscow issued a warning, stating that any aggression against Belarus, its closest ally, would be viewed as an attack on Russia.
Following Poland’s decision to deploy military units near its border with Belarus in response to the arrival of Russia’s Wagner Group forces in Belarus, Putin emphasized that Moscow would utilize all available means to respond to any hostile actions towards Minsk.
The Kremlin revealed that Lukashenko is currently on a working visit to Russia, during which he will discuss the further development of their countries’ “strategic partnership” with Putin.
Though Lukashenko has refrained from sending troops to Ukraine, he permitted Russia to utilize Belarusian territory to launch a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Since then, he has frequently met with Putin. The two nations have conducted numerous joint military training exercises, and in June, Lukashenko allowed Russian nuclear weapons to be stationed in his country, a move that was widely condemned by the West.
Lukashenko’s dependency on Putin for his survival, coupled with his pariah status in the West, has raised concerns in Kyiv that Putin may pressure him to join a new ground offensive and open a fresh front in Russia’s failing invasion of Ukraine.
The Belarusian defense ministry announced on Thursday that Wagner Group mercenaries have commenced training Belarusian special forces at a military range near the border with NATO-member Poland. In a video, Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin welcomed the fighters to Belarus, stating that they would not currently participate in the war in Ukraine, but should gather strength for future Wagner operations in Africa while training the Belarusian army.
(Reporting by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; Editing by Paul Simao)
Credit: The Star : News Feed
