Meeting in Minsk: Putin closes ranks with Belarus

Russian President Putin has long avoided official trips abroad. But now he was received by the head of state Lukashenko in Belarus. Ukraine looks at the meeting with suspicion, since Belarus could actively enter the war.

It is one of Russia’s President Vladimir Putin’s rare trips abroad. The head of the Kremlin has not visited the ruler Alexander Lukashenko in Minsk for a long time. Most recently, the Belarusian head of state had to travel to either Sochi or Moscow if direct talks with Putin were pending.

The accompanying music for the visit comes from a joint maneuver between Russia and Belarus. The background is that both countries want to form a joint combat force that could include up to 9,000 Russian soldiers. Immediately before Putin’s visit, the Belarusian Defense Ministry announced that a short-notice inspection of its own troops had shown that the Belarusian army was fully operational.

Plans for further aggression against Ukraine?

In Ukraine, people are suspicious of the meeting between the two heads of state. Lieutenant General Serhiy Nayev, commander of the Ukrainian armed forces, believes that Putin’s visit is an attempt to draw Belarus more into the war against Ukraine. “In our opinion, during this meeting, questions of further aggression against Ukraine and broader participation of the armed forces of the Republic of Belarus in the operation against Ukraine will be worked out. In our opinion, these are mainly attacks by land,” says Nayev.

Not only has the Russian advance in Ukraine stalled, territories already conquered have been recaptured by the Ukrainians. Western anti-aircraft systems can intercept a significant portion of Russian air attacks. Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov has already announced another counter-offensive as soon as weather conditions permit.

Will Belarus enter the war?

Before his visit to Minsk on Friday, Putin asked the commanders of the Russian armed forces for proposals on how to proceed in Ukraine. The Kremlin boss spent the entire day at headquarters, his spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

The fact that ruler Lukashenko so vehemently denies that the Belarusian army will soon be able to fight against the Ukrainians is seen by many as a ruse. At the end of November he said: “This is absolute stupidity. If we get involved in the conflict with our troops, we won’t be able to contribute anything, we’ll only make things worse. That’s not Belarus’ role in this conflict. “

Just before Putin’s visit to Minsk, Kremlin spokesman Peskov denied rumors that Belarus was being forced into the war against Ukraine. And so the uncertainty remains high, especially since Russian media are reporting that Putin is planning an important announcement for this week.

Belarus: Death penalty for treason

Oleksiy Hromov from the Ukrainian general staff points to a tightening of the law in Belarus, which he finds alarming. Belarusian soldiers have already been told that in the event of martial law, they will receive arms and ammunition to defend their country.

At the same time, the House of Representatives of Belarus approved a bill introducing the death penalty for treason for military personnel and state officials. “It is possible that such actions of the Lukashenko regime are one of the steps to prepare for participation in the war against Ukraine,” said Hromov.

The Ukrainian military leadership apparently expects Russia to make a second attempt to capture the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, as early as January. That’s what Ukrainian General Valeriy Salushnyy said in an interview with the English business magazine “The Economist”. The mobilization of the Russians had been a success. They are currently preparing 200,000 soldiers for their deployment.