{"id":11375,"date":"2022-03-13T10:23:43","date_gmt":"2022-03-13T07:23:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/api.pozirk.online\/longreads\/kremlin-meeting-lukasenka-trying-to-wriggle-out-of-greater-involvement-in-war\/"},"modified":"2026-02-24T20:29:13","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T20:29:13","slug":"kremlin-meeting-lukasenka-trying-to-wriggle-out-of-greater-involvement-in-war","status":"publish","type":"longreads","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/11375\/","title":{"rendered":"Kremlin meeting: Luka\u0161enka trying to wriggle out of greater involvement in war"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n By Valieryj Karbalievi\u010d, BPN<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n Aliaksandr Luka\u0161enka had a five-hour meeting with Vladimir Putin in Moscow on March 11 as Minsk and Moscow seem to have differences over Belarus\u2019 role in the invasion of Ukraine.<\/b>\n<\/p>\n

Putin may be insisting on Belarus\u2019 greater involvement<\/span> <\/h2>\n

\n\t \u201cRussia has taken the most serious and unprecedented steps to support our country\u2019s economy,\u201d said Natallia Eismant, a spokesperson for Luka\u0161enka, commenting on the meeting. She would not elaborate.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t Obviously, Belarus urgently needs Russian economic support in the face of Western sanctions. Economists have warned that Minsk may default on its debts. Russia is the major creditor accounting for more than 50 percent of the country\u2019s total foreign debt.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t Minsk had asked Moscow for a new loan to refinance its old debts. However, Luka\u0161enka did not need to meet with Putin to discuss the matter. He could do it over the phone because the latter does not care much about the economy and finances right now and is focused on the war with Ukraine. The war definitely dominates the Kremlin\u2019s agenda.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t It was Putin\u2019s first meeting with his Belarusian counterpart and ally after the start of Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine. The Russian leader was probably looking for encouragement amid bad news from the front. He also seems to be insisting on Belarus\u2019 greater involvement in Russia\u2019s military campaign.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t Putin has recently approved the deployment of 16,000 volunteer fighters from the Middle East to Ukraine to address an apparent shortage of Russian personnel. He may be expecting Minsk to contribute forces to the offensive operation. But Luka\u0161enka is reluctant to do it.\n<\/p>\n

False claims<\/span> <\/h2>\n

\n\t Luka\u0161enka tried hard to justify the assault on Ukraine, but his arguments were less than surefooted and convincing.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t He accused Ukraine of starting the war but admitted that Belarus and Russia were the first to attack.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t \u201cThey started it,\u201d he claimed. \u201cI will show you right now from where they were preparing to attack Belarus. If we had not launched the preventive strike on their positions six hours before the operation \u2013 the four positions I am showing you now, I\u2019ve brought the map \u2013 they would attack our troops, of Belarus and Russia, which were there at exercises.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n\t \u201cThat is why it was not we who started this war. Our conscience is clear,\u201d he claimed. \u201cIt was good that we started it. Biological weapons, the largest nuclear plants . . . They were ready to blow it all up.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n\t Moscow claimed that it had gone to war with Ukraine because Ukraine had planned to attack areas under control of separatists in the Donbass region. Luka\u0161enka has come up with a new explanation of how the war started.\n<\/p>\n

Luka\u0161enka talking out of both sides of his mouth<\/span> <\/h2>\n

\n\t The Belarusian leader said that Belarusian intelligence spotted movements of mercenaries along the Belarusian-Ukrainian border in Ukraine allegedly heading for the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. He claimed that Ukraine possessed biological weapons and intended to blow up its nuclear facilities.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t He might have cited the \u201cmovements of mercenaries\u201d and Ukraine\u2019s alleged plan to blow up the Chernobyl plant to justify imminent deployment of Belarusian troops to Ukraine, if Putin prevails.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t On the other hand, he accuses the West of trying to drag Belarus into the war to force it to withdraw some forces from its Western border with NATO countries.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t Luka\u0161enka has prepared excuses to defend both possible deployment and his refusal to send troops to Ukraine. He never means what he says, so it remains unclear whether he will order troops to cross the border.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Valieryj Karbalievi\u010d, BPN Aliaksandr Luka\u0161enka had a five-hour meeting with Vladimir Putin in Moscow on March 11 as Minsk and Moscow seem to have differences over Belarus\u2019 role in the invasion of Ukraine. Putin may be insisting on Belarus\u2019 greater involvement \u201cRussia has taken the most serious and unprecedented steps to support our country\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":75,"featured_media":0,"template":"","rubric":[22],"class_list":["post-11375","longreads","type-longreads","status-publish","hentry","rubric-theviewer"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nKremlin meeting: Luka\u0161enka trying to wriggle out of greater involvement in war | Pozirk<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"By Valieryj Karbalievi\u010d, BPN Aliaksandr Luka\u0161enka had a five-hour meeting with Vladimir Putin in Moscow on March 11 as Minsk and Moscow seem to have\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/11375\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta 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