Lukashenko
\nRussian President Vladimir Putin visited Belarus on Monday along with his defence and foreign ministers, fanning fears in Kyiv that he intends to pressure his ex-Soviet ally to join a fresh ground offensive that would open a new front against Ukraine.
\nPutin, whose troops have been driven back in Ukraine\u2019s north, northeast and south since invading in February, is taking a more public role in the war. He visited his operation headquarters on Friday to sound out military commanders.
\nHis trip for talks with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko was his first to Minsk since 2019 – before the COVID pandemic and a wave of pro-democracy protests in 2020 that Lukashenko crushed with strong support from the Kremlin.
\nRussian forces used Belarus as a launch pad for their abortive attack on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv in February, and there has been Russian and Belarusian military activity there for months.
\nKremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian news agencies that Belarus was Russia\u2019s \u201cnumber one ally\u201d but that suggestions Moscow aims to pressure Minsk into joining what it calls its \u201cspecial military operation\u201d were \u201cstupid and unfounded fabrications\u201d.
\nUkrainian joint forces commander Serhiy Nayev had said he believed the talks would address \u201cfurther aggression against Ukraine and the broader involvement of the Belarusian armed forces in the operation against Ukraine, in particular, in our opinion, also on the ground\u201d.
\nUkraine\u2019s top general, Valery Zaluzhniy, told the Economist last week that Russia was preparing 200,000 fresh troops for a major offensive that could come from the east, south or even from Belarus as early as January, but more likely in spring.
\nMoscow and Minsk have set up a joint military unit in Belarus and held numerous exercises. Three Russian warplanes and an airborne early warning and control aircraft were deployed to Belarus last week.
\nBut Lukashenko, a pariah in the West who relies heavily on Moscow for support, has repeatedly said Belarus will not enter the war in Ukraine. Foreign diplomats say committing Belarusian troops would be deeply unpopular at home.
\nWestern military analysts say Lukashenko\u2019s small army lacks the strength and combat experience to make a big difference – but that by forcing Ukraine to commit forces to its north it could leave it more exposed to Russian assaults elsewhere.
\nThe Pentagon said on Dec. 13 that it did not see \u201cany type of impending cross-border activity by Belarus at this time\u201d.
\nPutin\u2019s visit was announced on Friday after a surprise Dec. 3 trip to Belarus by Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, where he signed an agreement with his Belarusian counterpart whose details were not disclosed.
\nAdding to the ominous mood music, Belarusian Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei, one of the few officials in Lukashenko\u2019s government with any rapport with the West, died suddenly last month. No official cause of death was announced.
\nHis successor, Sergei Aleinik, met Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Monday.
\nLukashenko said he and Putin would discuss a long-running effort to integrate their respective former Soviet republics in a supranational Union State. The talks are seen by the Belarus opposition as a vehicle for a creeping Russian annexation.
\nBelarus\u2019s state news agency, BelTA, said they would answer questions from reporters after their talks.
\nAt a government meeting after the talks with Putin were announced, Lukashenko unexpectedly said that any ceding of sovereignty would be a betrayal of the Belarusian people.
\n\u201cParticularly after these large-scale negotiations, everyone will say: \u2018That\u2019s it, there are no longer any authorities in Belarus, the Russians are already walking around and running the country\u2019,\u201d Lukashenko said.
\n\u201cI want to again underline this in particular: No one other than us runs Belarus.\u201d
\nHe said he would discuss economic cooperation, energy supplies, defence and security with Putin.
\nRussian agencies quoted Peskov as saying \u201cno one is pressuring anyone to integrate\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Lukashenko Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Belarus on Monday along with his defence and foreign ministers, fanning fears in Kyiv that he intends to pressure his ex-Soviet ally to join a fresh ground offensive that would open a new front against Ukraine. Putin, whose troops have been driven back in Ukraine\u2019s north, northeast and south […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":302255,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-302235","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n