Belarus will not send forces to fight in Ukraine, according to Russian and Belarusian lawmakers, despite the announcement of a “joint force” of Russian and Belarusian troops adjacent to Ukraine.
“Belarus has never been and will never be an aggressor,” Belarusian parliamentarian Igor Martynov told state media. “We have never claimed anyone’s territory. . . There is a regional organization of forces, as well as the Armed Forces of Belarus that protect our borders. . “
Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko and Russian officials say the contingent of Russian troops is returning to Belarus to protect themselves from a hypothetical attack through Poland or other NATO territory, a remote prospect they say they fear. and allied officials are aware that Lukashenko allowed Russian President Vladimir Putin to use Belarus as a transit ground for Kyiv’s failed capture early in the war.
“We reiterate our call on the Belarusian government to avoid allowing Russian war of aggression by allowing the Russian armed forces to use Belarusian territory and offering it to the Russian military,” said the G7, a bloc of the world’s seven largest industrialized democracies. said Tuesday. The announcement of a joint military organization with Russia is the latest recent example of the Belarusian regime’s complicity with Russia. We reiterate our call on the Lukashenko regime to fully respect its obligations under foreign law.
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Martynov’s tone seems to fit with the reported unpopularity of the war among the Belarusian people, which is led by a dictatorial vassal of Putin despite a primary outbreak of protests that rocked the Minsk regime after Lukashenko won the 2019 presidential election.
“We believe that the Belarusian army is not smart enough to fight, and probably also has serious morale problems,” a senior EU official told the Washington Examiner. “But again, war is a complicated thing. “
Putin has tried in recent weeks to mobilize thousands of Russian recruits to update his war victims and stem the tide of an inventive Ukrainian counteroffensive that has liberated large swathes of Ukrainian territory and threatened Russian home lines. An official European moment speculated that the so-called “joint group” was a ruse designed more to distract Ukrainian officials than to update the dynamics of the conflict.
“They must diversify Ukrainian resources to slow [Ukrainian] battlefield advances in the east and south,” the officer surmised at the time. “A limited commitment of [Russian] groups of this leadership is possible. “
A senior Russian lawmaker, promoted through Belarusian state media, argued that Russia did not want help from Belarusian forces.
“As for [the joint organization’s] participation in the army’s special operation, I think it will not be necessary,” Andrei Kartapolov of the Russian State Duma said Monday. “The organization recently deployed there is capable of accomplishing the task. “
Lukashenko appears to be in a position to resist any proposal by Moscow to insert Belarusian forces into Ukraine, according to the top official, to the extent that his vulnerability to Putin’s tension allows.
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“But his room for manoeuvre is so [very] limited that he couldn’t possibly do it,” the EU’s most sensible official said.