Putin arrives in neighboring Belarus for a two-day state visit with his most important ally

Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Belarus on Thursday for a two-day visit as part of several foreign trips to kick off his fifth term in office. In doing so, he underlined close ties with a neighboring ally that has played a major role in Russia’s war efforts in Ukraine.

Putin traveled to China earlier this month and is expected in Uzbekistan on Sunday. Earlier on Thursday, the Russian president received Bahraini King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa at the Kremlin.

In Belarus, Putin will hold talks with his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko. Lukashenko greeted him on the tarmac and then the two sat down at the airport for a brief conversation, the Kremlin said. Lukashenko promised to discuss security issues at the forefront, and tomorrow we will discuss economic issues together with our government colleagues.

The Belarusian leader appointed a new chief of the country’s military general staff on Thursday, a move analysts say is aimed at showing the Kremlin the utmost loyalty of its neighbor and ally.

Russia used Belarus, which is dependent on Russian loans and cheap energy, as a base for the war in Ukraine and deployed some of its troops there from Belarusian territory. In 2023, Russia also moved some of its tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus.

Major General Pavel Muraveyka, who was appointed Chief of the General Staff of Belarus and First Deputy Minister of Defense, is known for publicly threatening neighboring countries Poland and Lithuania.

In October 2023, he said Belarus could capture the so-called Suwalki Gap, a sparsely populated stretch of land that runs about 100 kilometers along the Polish-Lithuanian border. It connects Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia to the rest of the NATO alliance and separates Belarus from Kaliningrad, a heavily militarized Russian exclave on the Baltic Sea that has no land connection to Russia.

Military analysts in the West have long viewed the Suwalki Gap as a potential flashpoint in any confrontation between Russia and NATO. They fear that Russia would try to close the gap and cut off the three Baltic states from Poland and other NATO countries.

Muraveiko’s appointment is an open challenge to the West and a desire to demonstrate Putin Minsk’s full loyalty and willingness to maintain a strategic partnership with Russia, independent Belarusian analyst Valery Karbalevich told The Associated Press.

The deployment of Russian nuclear weapons in Belarus leaves Lukashenko no strategic choice, but turns him into a hostage of the Kremlin and firmly binds Minsk to Moscow’s policies,” Karbalevich said.

Both Russia and Belarus began military exercises involving tactical nuclear weapons earlier this month. Moscow said the exercises, first publicly announced on May 6, were a response to statements by Western officials pointing to a possible deeper involvement in the war in Ukraine. Belarus launched its maneuvers on May 7 with missiles and fighter planes capable of carrying tactical nuclear weapons; The Russian exercises started this week.

Moscow has emphasized that the tactical nuclear weapons deployed in Belarus remain under Russian military control.

Unlike nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missiles that can destroy entire cities, tactical nuclear weapons intended for use against troops on the battlefield are less powerful. Such weapons include aerial bombs, short-range missile warheads and artillery ammunition.

The deployment of tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, which has a 1,084 kilometer border with Ukraine, would allow Russian aircraft and missiles to reach potential targets there more easily and quickly if Moscow decides to use them. It also expands Russia’s ability to attack several NATO allies in Eastern and Central Europe.

First print: May 24, 2024 | 7:14 am IST