Kyiv: Belarus authoritarian leader said on Wednesday that the country would soon receive a large number of Russian weapons, including dozens of combat jets, helicopters, and top-of-the-line air defense missile systems.
President Alexander Lukashenko announced the acquisition expected as Russia and Belarus prepares to conduct a joint war match starting next week set to involve around 200,000 soldiers.
The announcement highlights the support of Moscow which continues to increase for Lukashenko, whose elections to the sixth of August 2020 triggered the months of protests and the allegations of the selection were held from Belarus and West opposition.
Russia has firmly supported the old president when the government faced a series of bruised sanctions from the United States and the European Union.
The sanctions were implemented in response to brutal crackdown in post-election protests, including the arrest of more than 35,000 people and the police beat thousands of demonstrators.
Looking to secure Moscow’s support, Lukashenko has gave sanctions as part of the alleged plot by the West to drive him and damage Russia.
He has described military training this month to come as part of a joint effort to fight Western pressure.
“We effectively have one soldier, with the Belarusian military forming his backbone in the west,” Lukashenko said.
“If God forbid, the war begins, Belarusian forces will be the first to be involved in the fight, and the Western group of the Russian Armed Forces will join quickly after forming a shared defense.” Moscow has provided Belarus loans as a new loan of $ 1.5 billion and criticizes Western limits.
Lukashenko said Russia will also provide a Belarus with dozens of fighter planes and helicopters and air defense weapons, may include sophisticated S-400 missile systems.
“We can even get the S-400.
We really need them,” he said.
The two neighbors of the former Soviet had a union agreement which imagined the close political, economic and military bond.
In the past, Lukashenko often accused Moscow to establish a plot to force Belarus to leave his independence, but he had dropped such rhetoric after his hard action to protest made him a pariah in the West and forced him to rely on Kremlin’s support.
Lukashenko said on Wednesday that he would discuss the agreement package intended to increase Russian-Belarus integration during a visit to Russia next week, but he stressed that it did not erode the independence of Belarus.
“There is no talk about losing sovereignty,” he said.
But regardless of the guarantee, planned maneuver and Lukashenko’s efforts to force a closer bond with Russia has triggered concerns about the Belarus opposition that the President could sacrifice the country’s independence in exchange for Moscow’s support.
“Lukashenko is drawn into military confrontation with the West and trades in sovereignty, but the legitimacy is doubtful and we will not recognize any documents or agreements that will give up or limit Belarus sovereignty,” Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, the main opposition.
Challenger in the August 2020 election, told the Associated Press in a telephone interview.
“Is there an agreement with Russia that will seize us from the independent future to be reviewed.”