On Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin met his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko in St. Petersburg in a one-on-one informal talk following their meeting with the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries.
The two leaders talked about the strong ties between Moscow and Minsk despite Western pressure. Putin highlighted that trade between the two counties grew by 36% this year, compensating for last year’s drop of 17%. To this end, he said that he looks forward to further expanding relations with Belarus next year.
Meanwhile, Lukashenko welcomed Putin’s remarks about how “Belarus is still being strangled: they imposed five sanction packages on us and are talking about a sixth round,” referring to sanctions by Western countries. Lukashenko said the sanctions are “silly” and claimed that Belarus is doing well due to Russia’s support.
Furthermore, Lukashenko thanked Putin for Russia’s support to the Belarusian aviation industry, saying that Belarus has “civilian and military aircraft manufacturing plants” that make useful products for the Russian aircraft industry. The Belarusian leader proposed holding joint military exercises with Russia in Belarus. In fact, Putin confirmed that the two countries would have the drills early next year, marking another instance of cooperation between their military and defence sectors. Belarus is at the border with the European Union (EU) and is therefore an important geostrategic partner for Russia.
Putin’s announcement regarding the joint military drills comes after the United States (US) and its European allies accused Russia of preparing an invasion of Ukraine, citing the massive build-up of Russian troops along the Ukrainian border. Officials in Kyiv have also raised concerns over the possibility of Russia attacking Ukraine from Belarus. Russia, however, denied these accusations and defended itself by saying that Ukraine, along with the US and North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), threaten Russian security.
Russia has regularly conducted military exercises in Belarus. In September, Moscow and Minsk conducted large-scale war games involving 200,000 troops. Russia has also repeatedly sent nuclear-equipped bombers to patrol Belarus in the last few weeks. Furthermore, last month, the Belarusian leader offered to house Russian nuclear warheads if NATO and the US make similar moves in Eastern Europe.
Relations between the former-Soviet countries have remained strong amid intensifying sanctions by the West. Lukashenko relied on Putin’s support immensely during his crackdown on the Belarusian pro-democracy movement following the disputed presidential elections in August 2020.