Russian defense minister calls Belarus loyal, reliable

November 2, BPN. Belarus has been and remains “Russia’s closest neighbor, loyal ally and reliable partner,” Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu told the joint board of the the two countries’ defense offices on November 2.

“This is especially important today, when tensions are rapidly increasing in the world, the foundations of strategic stability are being destroyed, the role of international institutions is decreasing and the confrontation between the West and Russia is growing,” Shoigu said, as quoted by the Russian defense ministry’s press office.

In his opinion, the current situation is “primarily beneficial for the United States,” which seeks to use it to “maintain global leadership and weaken other countries as much as possible, including its own allies in Europe.”

Shoigu said NATO’s new strategic concept calls Russia “the main source of security threats.”

“In this regard, the alliance intends to move from containing Russia through a forward presence to creating a full-scale collective defense system on the eastern flank, near our borders,” the Russian defense minister said.

“Our allies, primarily the fraternal Republic of Belarus, would also be targeted,” he added. Therefore, Shoigu concluded, Moscow considers “ensuring the military security of the Union State” a priority task.

On October 31, Alaksandr Łukašenka signed an edict authorizing officials to negotiate a draft agreement with Russia on joint combat training centers in Belarus. Russia has been transferring troops to Belarus since October 15 to form a joint regional group of forces.

The decision to deploy the group was made in connection with “the aggravation on the western borders of the Union State,” Łukašenka said.