Brussels (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – The U.S. and European Allies are working together to keep Russia off Global trade. Since the invasion of Ukraine, Russia is not getting any international funds. However, one country that is Belarus has something else in mind. Belarus has a population of over 9 million and shares a border with Northern Ukraine.
They are holding diplomatic talks between Russia and Ukraine. The European Union has declared that they will ban Belarus banks from the global financial system. Moreover, they are planning to freeze all ties with the central bank from Belarus. White House has announced several sanctions that limit the imports to Belarus. The country is being criticized by the U.S to a certain extent.
How Does Belarus Fits In Ukraine’s Invasion?
Belarus is a part of the Soviet Union but it got independence in 1991 after the collapse of the USSR. They are maintaining very close economic and political ties with Russia. The country is well-populated and shares a border with three NATO member states. Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland have joined NATO and UAE. However, Belarus is the only one that is under the influence of Russia.
Russia’s military effort is flourishing a lot due to the help coming in from Belarus. Kyiv is relatively closer to Belarus as compared to Russia. During winter more than 300,000 Russian troops entered Belarus to get training exercises. Although Russia claimed that the soldiers will be back, instead they invaded Ukraine in February.
Belarus helped the Russian army take over a small city to Kyiv’s northeast. Many of the injured soldiers are getting treated in the hospitals of Belarus. Many of the missiles that Russia has launched straight from this country. According to U.S. Defence officials, they don’t have any evidence that Belarus troops have joined Russians.
Belarus Aiding Russia Is A Threat To Ukraine
Russia is continuously helping Belarus and they are supporting the Russian army in their way. Alexander Lukashenko and now, Russian President Vladimir Putin are becoming favorable to each other. For some time now Alexander was more in favor of Western Nations. However, the tables turned in 2020 itself. Even though Alexander got a victory against his opponent, it got into a big dispute. The opposition team was the USA and all the allies in Europe.
Due to this a lot of protests started to happen in Belarus. As it all lasted for many weeks many members of the security forces were arrested. Alexander had to deal with a big challenge while being in power for around 26 years. In this situation, he turned to Putin for help. After that, they both joined hands and the invasion of Ukraine became easier. The Russian military was ready to intervene and helped Belarus right away.
Putin discussed a lot of things during the long meeting. It included the mobilization of 300,000 troops that are fighting against Ukraine. He claimed that only 150,000 are deployed to the much-needed combat zones. The rest of them are undergoing training somewhere else. This is what Putin has to say about the condition of troops:
“In the current conditions, it makes no sense to talk about any additional mobilization efforts. “There is no need for the Defence Ministry and the country to do that.”
Belarus Moves military Equipment Near Ukraine
Belarus has recently announced bigger plans to move military equipment and forces near Ukraine. This is turning out to be a threat to Ukraine which is already suffering due to Russian forces. Many experts are predicting that this move is enhancing fears that Russia may come up with a new attack.
Even though Belarus claims that it will not attack Ukraine. However, President Alexander Lukashenko is allowing Russian forces to deploy at the Southern border. In October, a total of 9000 troops joined a joint military group. Ukraine is struggling with this situation and warning that Belarus and Russia could plan a new strategy against them.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is acknowledging his aggression against Ukraine. It doesn’t seem all this is going to end any time soon. They are using weapons to protect their territory and will not back out. Here is what he says about Ukraine:
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“We haven’t gone mad. We fully understand what nuclear weapons are,” Putin reveals. “We have them, and they are more advanced and state-of-the-art than what any other nuclear power has.” He continued: “We aren’t going to brandish those weapons like a razor running around the world, but we naturally proceed from their existence.”
