Monitoring Desk
LONDON: Ukraine is consolidating its defences at the border with Belarus over fears that Russia may be preparing for a fresh attack, according to a government official.
BBC quoted the Deputy Interior Minister Yevhen Yenin as having said that Ukraine would be bolstering the Belarusian border with armed forces and ammunition. The news came as Russian president Vladimir Putin travelled to Minsk to meet Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, according to BBC News. It merits mention here that Belarus shares a border with Russia as well as Ukraine.
Russian border defences
The Russian president has also ordered the strengthening of country’s borders besides improving social control within the country. He said the security services should quickly frustrate any attempt to violate Russia’s borders. He further said that the security should combat risks coming from abroad, and identify traitors and saboteurs. He asked the special services to ensure safety of people living in the parts of Ukraine that Moscow claims as its own. Kherson is one such area where Russia had to suffered miltary reverses. Russia’s defence ministry has announced that its troops stationed in Belarus would conduct joint military exercises with Belarus.
Russia and Belarus engaed in joint military drills near the Ukrainian border in February — just days before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Belarus is coming under immense pressure from Russia to step up its support in what the later called special military operation. However, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has dismissed such reports “as totally stupid, groundless fabrications”.
President Putin flew to Minsk for talks with Belarus President, Lukashenko. It is for the first time in three-and-a-half years that President Putin is in Belarus. The meeting was described as a “working visit” and lasted for more than two hours.
At a joint press conference, the two leaders spoke extensively about economic relations, trade, and security. President Putin indicated that some Belarusian military aircraft have been re-equipped to potentially carry nuclear missiles and added that Russia is helping to train Belarus crews. In return, Belarus President, Lukashenko thanked Putin for providing Belarus with an S-400 air defence system and Iskander ballistic missile system. Nonetheless, the visit has fuelled speculation that the Kremlin leader may be trying to pressure the leader of Belarus into joining a possible new ground offensive in Ukraine.
