Latest news with #UnionState
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Lukashenko urges Belarus farmers to grow more potatoes to feed Russia
Belarusian strongman Alexander Lukashenko called on Wednesday for the country to produce more potatoes in the face of a large shortage of the key crop and rising demand from neighbouring Russia. "We have to grow enough so that it suffices for us and for Russia," Lukashenko said during a meeting with regional officials in Minsk, state news agency BelTA reported. The potato has in the past been seen as a symbol of Lukashenko's rule of the country, which is heavily dependant on agriculture. He was once head of a state-run collective farm, or sovkhoz. Food shortages have arisen recently in the country's largely planned economy. Lukashenko has attributed this to problems with Russian agriculture, saying that Russia had bought up Belarusian stocks. The two countries are closely linked in a Union State aimed at deepening economic and defence policy. "We have to help our brothers, the Russians," Lukashenko said, adding that growing potatoes was a key way that Belarus could help. He noted that it was also profitable. Russian food prices have risen sharply, with potato price inflation among the highest. A few weeks ago, the crisis led the Minsk government to increase vegetable prices, which are fixed by the state. This week, it lifted an import ban on fruit and vegetables from the European Union that Minsk had imposed in December 2021 in response to Western sanctions. Relations with the West were tense even before the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Yahoo
21-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Belarus Weekly: Lukashenko signs security treaty, pulling Belarus further into Russia's orbit
Belarus dictator Alexander Lukashenko visits Moscow, enacting a security treaty and signing a range of agreements that pull Belarus further into Russia's orbit. U.S. President Donald Trump slashes RFE/RL funding in another blow to Belarusian media in exile. Latvia restricts movement at last open border crossing with Belarus amid migrationconcerns. Japanese citizen sentenced to seven years in Belarus on trumped up charges of spying. Poland and the Baltic states seek to withdraw from the anti-personnel mine ban treaty. Subscribe to the Newsletter Belarus Weekly Join us Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko made a three-day state visit to Moscow that ended on March 15 – his first official visit abroad following his so-called "re-election' in January. The visit also occurred before the Belarusian autocrat was officially inaugurated as the country's head of state. Following talks, Lukashenko and Russian President Vladimir Putin enacted the Union State treaty, which the sides have dubbed as 'security guarantees.' Signed on Dec. 6, 2024, and ratified in late February, the treaty expands Russia's military presence in Belarus in exchange for the Kremlin opening its 'nuclear umbrella' over Belarus. The treaty is widely seen as ceding Belarus's sovereignty over its defense and foreign policy. Since using Moscow's support to crush mass protests triggered by election fraud in 2020, Lukashenko has been largely cut off from the West, and has increasingly relied on Moscow to keep him in power and to support Belarus's sanctioned economy. Now, deeply dependent on Russia, Belarus is providing logistical and military support for Moscow's war against Ukraine. At least 287 Belarusian enterprises supply the Russian war machine, according to Belarusian democratic leader in exile Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya. Addressing the Russian Federation Council, Lukashenko said there had been an erosion of Belarusian sovereignty, adding that Belarus would not formally merge with Russia in the near future. 'If we were to burst through this open door, we would ruin everything we have done. It is necessary to go calmly, step by step,' Lukashenko said. Following his speech, Moscow approved an agreement to delay Belarus's repayment of nearly $800 million in debts. Belarus's total debts to Russia stand at $8 billion. RFE/RL journalist and political analyst Yury Drakakhrust described the highly controlled yet officially still independent Belarus as an example of the Kremlin's desired model for relations with post-Soviet countries — including Ukraine. The Russian and Belarusian dictators also signed an agreement granting rights to Russian and Belarusian citizens permanently residing in each other's territories to vote in local elections, further deepening the integration processes between the two states. Another agreement signed during Lukashenko's visit was dedicated to the mutual protection of citizens 'unjustly persecuted by foreign states or international justice bodies.' The document contains a pledge 'to jointly combat the negative trend of the politicization of international legal cooperation in criminal matters.' The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Putin and Russian human rights ombudswoman Maria Lvova-Belova in March 2023 over their involvement in the forced deportation of Ukrainian children from Russia-occupied territories in Ukraine. The threat of an ICC warrant is also hanging over Lukashenko after Lithuania referred a case against him to the court in September 2024. Human rights groups such as Reporters Without Borders and the International Accountability Platform for Belarus have also submitted evidence on the regime's alleged crimes. Like Russia, Belarus has abused Interpol's Red Notice mechanism, using it to hunt down the regime's political opponents abroad. Read also: Polish right takes hard line on Ukraine ahead of presidential vote Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko made a three-day state visit to Moscow that ended on March 15 – his first official visit abroad following his so-called "re-election' in January. The visit also occurred before the Belarusian autocrat was officially inaugurated as the country's head of state. Following talks, Lukashenko and Russian President Vladimir Putin enacted the Union State treaty, which the sides have dubbed as 'security guarantees.' Signed on Dec. 6, 2024, and ratified in late February, the treaty expands Russia's military presence in Belarus in exchange for the Kremlin opening its 'nuclear umbrella' over Belarus. The treaty is widely seen as ceding Belarus's sovereignty over its defense and foreign policy. Since using Moscow's support to crush mass protests triggered by election fraud in 2020, Lukashenko has been largely cut off from the West, and has increasingly relied on Moscow to keep him in power and to support Belarus's sanctioned economy. Now, deeply dependent on Russia, Belarus is providing logistical and military support for Moscow's war against Ukraine. At least 287 Belarusian enterprises supply the Russian war machine, according to Belarusian democratic leader in exile Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya. Addressing the Russian Federation Council, Lukashenko said there had been an erosion of Belarusian sovereignty, adding that Belarus would not formally merge with Russia in the near future. 'If we were to burst through this open door, we would ruin everything we have done. It is necessary to go calmly, step by step,' Lukashenko said. Following his speech, Moscow approved an agreement to delay Belarus's repayment of nearly $800 million in debts. Belarus's total debts to Russia stand at $8 billion. RFE/RL journalist and political analyst Yury Drakakhrust described the highly controlled yet officially still independent Belarus as an example of the Kremlin's desired model for relations with post-Soviet countries — including Ukraine. The Russian and Belarusian dictators also signed an agreement granting rights to Russian and Belarusian citizens permanently residing in each other's territories to vote in local elections, further deepening the integration processes between the two states. Another agreement signed during Lukashenko's visit was dedicated to the mutual protection of citizens 'unjustly persecuted by foreign states or international justice bodies.' The document contains a pledge 'to jointly combat the negative trend of the politicization of international legal cooperation in criminal matters.' The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Putin and Russian human rights ombudswoman Maria Lvova-Belova in March 2023 over their involvement in the forced deportation of Ukrainian children from Russia-occupied territories in Ukraine. The threat of an ICC warrant is also hanging over Lukashenko after Lithuania referred a case against him to the court in September 2024. Human rights groups such as Reporters Without Borders and the International Accountability Platform for Belarus have also submitted evidence on the regime's alleged crimes. Like Russia, Belarus has abused Interpol's Red Notice mechanism, using it to hunt down the regime's political opponents abroad. Seventy years of U.S.-backed broadcasts promoting democracy worldwide may come to an end after U.S. President Donald Trump on March 14 signed an executive order eliminating seven federal agencies, including the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), which oversees RFE/RL and Voice of America (VoA). For Belarus media in exile, the order serves another major blow to the independent press, which have been outlawed in Belarus and forced into exile. An earlier USAID funding cut in January affected around two-thirds of Belarusian outlets, with about 20% pushed to the brink of closure, according to the independent Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ). Trump's executive order put 1,300 VoA employees on administrative leave and terminated the U.S. Congress-authorized grant for RFE/RL. In response, on March 19, RFE/RL filed a lawsuit against USAGM and its officials to block the funding halt. So far, the Belarusian service of RFE/RL continues to operate, although some freelancers have been let go. RFE/RL President and CEO Stephen Capus said that canceling the organization's funding 'would be a massive gift to America's enemies.' Propagandists in Russia, meanwhile, celebrated the decision. RFE/RL launched its coverage in Belarusian in 1954. Unlike in Ukraine or Russia, the Belarusian service of RFE/RL was never permitted to open an official bureau in Belarus and was never granted FM broadcasting rights. In December 2021, the regime of Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko officially deemed the Belarusian service to be an 'extremist organization.' The independent journalism fostered at the Belarusian service of RFE/RL kickstarted the development of the media industry in Belarus — the service's first correspondent on the territory of the then Soviet Belarus, Ales Lipai, later founded the first independent Belarusian news agency, BelaPAN. Beyond being among the few Belarusian-language media, Radio Liberty is the last outlet preserving pre-Soviet spelling and grammar norms, which were later altered to make written Belarusian more similar to Russian. The shutdown of Belarusian Radio Liberty would eliminate this norm from public use. Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya said losing RFE/RL and VoA would be a 'grave mistake,' calling them 'symbols of the free world.' Former RFE/RL journalists Ihar Karnei and Ihar Losik remain behind bars in Belarus, serving sentences of more than three and 15 years, respectively. Another Belarusian correspondent, Andrei Kuznechyk, was recently freed in a U.S.-brokered prisoner release. Belarusian propaganda aired interviews with the prisoners in an attempt to undermine Radio Liberty's coverage of the 2020 anti-government protests in Belarus. Since strangling popular protests against the rigged 2020 presidential elections, the Lukashenko regime has raided and shut down independent outlets, blocked websites, and jailed 41 journalists and media workers. Thirty-three media workers have been labeled extremists, and 12 have been declared to be 'terrorists.' Donating to or advertising with one of the 38 banned media is punishable by up to five years in prison. About 400 media workers have fled Belarus, relying on foreign grants to keep their newsrooms operating in exile. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said EU foreign ministers discussed the functioning of RFE/RL at a meeting in Brussels on March 17. The bloc cannot automatically fund Radio Free Europe, she said, adding that the EU will look into potential options. Ten European countries backed the proposal to fund RFE/RL, Czech Minister for European Affairs Martin Dvorak announced on March 18. Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky did not rule out that the European Union might buy Radio Free Europe from the United States. Read also: EU approves over $2 billion in economic support for Moldova The Latvian government, seeking to prevent the inflow of illegal migrants into the country from Belarus, on March 19 limited traffic across the country's only remaining border crossing with Belarus for motorized vehicles. Similar measures extend to the two checkpoints on the Latvian-Russian border. Belarus orchestrated an artificial migration crisis in 2021 by channeling flows of nearly 8,000 irregular migrants from the Middle East, Africa, and Asia to Belarus's borders with the EU. The crisis was reignited with the Kremlin's backing in 2022, prompting Poland and the Baltic states to declare it a "hybrid attack" aimed at destabilizing the region. Latvia's decision prohibits pedestrians and bicycles from crossing the border at Patarnieki-Hryharouschyna, the last operating border post between Latvia and Belarus, for six months. According to Border Guard Chief Guntis Puyats, the possibility of a full shutdown is not ruled out if the irregular migration flow again becomes critical. The Latvian State Border Guard requested that the government approve the partial closure on March 17, following a nine-hour halt of operations at the checkpoint due to the threat of irregular migration. According to Puyats, border officers decided to block all traffic movement on the border after they noticed about 30 migrants, predominantly men aged between 20 and 35, with no visas or residence permits, who were seeking to cross the border. "We understand that this is an instrumentalization of migration," the border guard chief said on air on Latvian TV3. The Belarusian State Border Committee said that the temporary traffic block had been caused by "a group of Africans traveling to the European Union with valid documents," without specifying whether the foreigners actually had visas to enter the EU. Latvia's State Border Guard has stopped 254 illegal border crossing attempts from Belarusian territory since the beginning of 2025. In 2024, according to border guards data aggregated by the independent news outlet Pozirk, there were around 30,000 border crossing attempts — 14% less than in 2023 — with 85% of the attempts occurring on the Polish-Belarusian border. Since the onset of the artificial migration crisis, Lithuania, Latvia, and Poland have built physical barriers along their land borders with Belarus and shut down several border crossings. The Latvian government is actively discouraging its citizens from traveling to Belarus. Two proposals were submitted to parliament in February to prohibit travel companies from organizing trips to Russia and Belarus and to ban passenger transportation with each of the two countries. After subjecting Japanese citizen Masatoshi Nakanishi to trial on alleged 'undercover activities,' a Belarusian court sentenced him to seven years of imprisonment, the maximum term for the offense, the Belarusian Prosecutor General's Press Office reported on March 17. A key Russian ally, Belarus has intensified the persecution of foreign nationals since the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, according to the Viasna Human Rights Center. At least 19 foreigners have been tried and sentenced in Belarus for 'undercover activities' — a vaguely defined act of 'cooperation' with a wide range of foreign or international entities. The court convicted Nakanishi for allegedly taking over 9,000 photos of civilian and military infrastructure, including military and railway facilities. Belarusian authorities also claimed Nakanishi traveled to the Ukrainian border. The court imposed the maximum possible prison sentence and a fine of around $6,500. According to a documentary aired on Belarusian state-run TV, Nakanishi lives in Homiel, a regional center near Belarus's border with Ukraine, and was officially employed as a Japanese language instructor at the local university. The first news of his arrest was published in September 2024, although he was actually arrested in July 2024. Jailed foreign nationals are often used as bargaining chips by the regime of Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko. In August 2024, Belarus released a German citizen, Rico Krieger, who had been subjected to a swift trial and sentenced to capital punishment on charges including 'undercover activities.' Lukashenko 'pardoned' Krieger and released him as part of a historic East-West prisoner swap in August 2024, assisting Moscow in returning the Russian killer Vadim Krasikov from prison in Germany. In 2022, Swiss-Belarusian dual national Natallia Hersche was released after a year-and-a-half in a Belarusian prison following 'intense efforts' by Switzerland's Federal Department of Foreign Affairs. Swiss newspaper Der Bund linked the appointment of a Swiss ambassador to Belarus in February 2022 to the freeing of Hersche. Belarus still holds around 1,200 political prisoners, at least 36 of them foreigners, under a range of politically motivated charges. Estonian citizen Alan Royo was prosecuted for slandering Lukashenko and founding an extremist formation, while Latvian citizen Jurijs Ganins was charged on March 13 with discrediting Belarus, calling for sanctions, and insulting Lukashenko. The defense ministers of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland, the EU member states bordering Belarus and Russia, have unanimously recommended that their countries withdraw from the Ottawa Convention banning the use of anti-personnel mines. The ministers reasoned that Russia's aggression against Ukraine and its ongoing threats to the Euro-Atlantic community had fundamentally changed the security situation in the region since the ratification of the Ottawa Convention. 'With this decision, we are sending a clear message: our countries are prepared and can use every necessary measure to defend our territory and freedom,' reads a statement published by Poland's Ministry of National Defense. Despite withdrawing from the convention, the countries say they would uphold their commitments to international humanitarian law, including protecting civilians during armed conflict. The decision still requires approval by the countries' parliaments. While all EU member states have ratified the treaty, Russia and the United States have not. Neither was Russia a signatory of the convention banning cluster munitions, a weapon widely used in the Russia-Ukraine war. Lithuania voted to withdraw from the convention banning the use of cluster munitions earlier in March. The move to withdraw from the anti-personnel mine ban treaty signals a shift in the front-line NATO states' defense policies in the wake of Russia's aggression against Ukraine. Both the Kremlin and Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko and his military officials have in recent years repeatedly used hostile rhetoric in relation to NATO member-states. Read also: Poland, Baltics to withdraw from anti-personnel mine ban treaty We've been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Yahoo
07-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Belarus Weekly: Belarus, Russia ratify security pact, expanding nuclear umbrella, military integration
Belarus and Russia ratified the Union State Security Pact, expanding the nuclear umbrella and military integration. Belarusian dictator Aleksandr Lukashenko invites U.S President Donald Trump, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and Russian President Vladimir Putin to Minsk for peace talks. Belarus criminalizes sharing information on military movements and expands in absentia prosecution of exiled opponents. Subscribe to the Newsletter Belarus Weekly Join us Local media reported that a stray drone crashed into power lines in Belarus, causing outages in Mazyr. Belarus hits record low in the Freedom House report, ranking 192-194 out of 207 globally. Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko have concluded the ratification of the Union State security guarantees, expanding Russia's nuclear umbrella over Belarus and deepening the military integration of the two countries. The Union State security pact was signed on Dec. 6, stipulating that Russian nuclear weapons can be used against an aggressor state — even ones that don't have nuclear weapons themselves. Putin signed the law ratifying the agreement on Feb. 28, after speedy consideration in Russia's State Duma in February. Belarus's Lukashenko signed the ratification law on March 4, his press office reported. The pact will enter into force after the sides exchange ratification documents. The security pact signing comes on the same day the Russian parliament ratified another agreement postponing Belarus's repayment of about $800 million in Russian state loans. Opposition politician Pavel Latushka, formerly an official in the Belarusian foreign ministry, linked the two ratifications. 'Lukashenko got himself into debt with Russia, and now he's paying with the country's national sovereignty,' Latushka said. Beyond expanding the Russian 'nuclear umbrella' to cover Belarus, Article 5 of the agreement provides for the establishment of Russian military bases and stationing of Russian troops on the territory of Belarus 'to prevent and repel acts of aggression.' However, the implementation of this provision would require a separate agreement between Minsk and Moscow. Russia has been pushing to establish an air base in Belarus since 2015. The treaty also obliges the parties to 'support' each other in the event of a threat to their constitutional orders — allowing each to potentially intervene to suppress public protests in either of the two countries. The Union State security agreement lasts for ten years and is automatically extended, unless one of the parties declares its intention to withdraw six months in advance. According to NATO estimates, Belarus hosted up to 30,000 Russian troops in the buildup to the Russian attack on Kyiv in February-March 2022, in the pretense that they were taking part in the 'Union Determination-2022' military drills. Following Russian forces' withdrawal from the northern front, the number of Russian troops in Belarus gradually fell, with just about 2,000 soldiers now being left, according to the Belarusian Hajun monitoring project. In September 2025, Belarus is to host up to 13,000 troops for the Zapad-2025 (West-2025) exercises. The Russian-Belarusian plans to hold the exercises have sparked concern among Ukrainian officials. Read also: Ukrainian troops' logistics in Kursk Oblast destroyed, they face risk of encirclement, sources say Minsk is prepared to host the leaders of the United States, Ukraine, and Russia for talks on ending Russia's war against Ukraine, Lukashenko, a staunch Moscow ally, said in an interview on March 4. Lukashenko's remarks came shortly after the United States imposed an immediate freeze on military aid to Ukraine, in a move the White House claimed was meant to pressure Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky into entering peace negotiations. In an interview with U.S. Internet media personality Mario Nawfal, Lukashenko reiterated his praise for U.S. President Donald Trump, and said he was willing to help achieve his goal of brokering peace between Kyiv and Moscow. 'It's only 200 kilometers from the Belarusian border to Kyiv – half an hour by plane,' Lukashenko told Nawfal. "You are welcome to come. We will sit down here. We'll come to an agreement quietly, without noise, without shouting. So tell Trump: I'm waiting for him here, along with (Russian President Vladimir) Putin and Zelensky. We'll sit down and calmly negotiate. If you want to make a deal.' The Kremlin has already backed the proposal. 'This issue has not been raised or discussed in any way. But, of course, Minsk is the best place for us. It is our main ally, so it is the best place for negotiations,' Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. In the early days of Russia's all-out invasion, negotiations between Ukraine and Russia were held in Belarus but were later moved to Istanbul. Minsk has repeatedly attempted to get a seat at the negotiating table, at the same time requiring 'security guarantees' for itself. Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Heorhiy Tykhyi said, 'Belarusian officials have the right to claim a fair hearing in the process of bringing the aggressor and his accomplices to international legal responsibility for the crime of aggression against Ukraine.' Belarus previously hosted talks between Ukraine, Russia, and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in 2014 and 2015, which led to the signing of the Minsk Agreements. The agreements were meant to stop Russia's war in eastern Ukraine, but both of the documents were ultimately violated by Russia. Two days before launching the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Putin declared that the Minsk Agreements 'no longer existed.' Lukashenko has been trying to make himself noticed by Trump, rushing to congratulate him on winning the U.S. presidential elections even before the results were confirmed, and promising to nominate President Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize. Following the failure of the rare earth metals deal with Ukraine on Feb. 28, Lukashenko ordered his ministers to look into the issue of mining rare earth metals in Belarus. Read also: Trump's increasing support for Russia leaves Zelensky with fewer options to secure U.S. backing Updates to the criminal code in Belarus have introduced prison sentences of up to three years for the 'unauthorized sharing of information' about the deployment of military units and their movement within the country, Human Rights watchdog Viasna reported on Feb. 28. The changes to the code also broaden the category of offenses that can be subject to in absentia prosecution. Since Russia unleashed its all-out invasion of Ukraine, Belarusians have been reporting the movement of Russian troops, and sharing footage and information on Russian troop locations with independent media and open-source intelligence projects. Ninety-three Belarusians have been sentenced on 'extremism' charges for doing so. The updated criminal code, which entered into effect on March 2, essentially outlaws sharing any form of content featuring the military in Belarus during wartime, emergencies, or counter-terrorist operations — unless the authorities have already shared such information. Violations are punishable by up to three years of imprisonment, or six years, if premeditated and committed by a group, and causing significant damage, the amended code reads. The updated criminal code also introduces the new status of 'a president who ceased to fulfill his duties' and criminalizes violence, threats, and libel against him. According to the current constitution, the incumbent, Alexander Lukashenko, can be 're-elected' once more and rule until 2035. Although there are no apparent signs of an impending transition of power, the Belarusian authorities have established an extra-governmental body — the All-Belarus People's Assembly, which is headed by Lukashenko — to which the dictator could 'retire' after leaving the presidency, while still wielding considerable influence. A stray Russian attack drone crashed into high-voltage power grid lines at a thermal power plant on Feb. 27, causing the most significant damage by a drone in Belarus so far, Flagshtok, a local news outlet in the Homiel region, has reported. Russian drone incursions into the Belarusian airspace have risen sharply since July 2024. At least 395 drones were recorded flying over the country in the second half of the year, and this year 94 were spotted in January alone. The Belarusian authorities don't comment on the incidents, and never publicly objected to them with their ally – Moscow. On the morning of Feb. 27, residents of Mazyr, Homiel Oblast, about 45 kilometers from the border with Ukraine, were cut off from heating and hot water supplies. Local state energy company Homielenergo attributed the problem to a breakdown in the rather old heat supply system, without elaborating on the cause. Heating and hot water supplies were restored after a full day of repair work. According to Flagshtok's sources, the drone crashed into the high-voltage lines of a thermal power plant, triggering its automatic protection system, which led to a full shutdown of the plant, which is located south of the Mazyr Oil Refinery — a strategic object reportedly protected by Belarusian air defenses. Restarting the plant caused a fault in the piping system. On the same night, another drone crashed and set fire to a farm building in Ziabrauka, a village next to a military airfield in the Homiel Oblast. Residents reported the sound of gunfire and a blast at around 4 a.m. Belarus ranked 192-194th out of 207 countries and territories worldwide on the level of political and civil liberties, according to global human rights watchdog Freedom House's Freedom in the World report, which was published on Feb. 26. The Freedom in the World report, first published in 1973, tracks the condition of political rights and civil liberties around the globe. According to its authors, global freedom declined in 2024 for the 19th consecutive year, and Belarus received some of the 'worst aggregate scores' for political rights and civil liberties. The country scored just seven points out of 100, sharing its position with Azerbaijan and Myanmar. The report also notes Minsk's role in the indoctrination of Ukrainian children forcibly deported from the occupied territories. According to the recent estimates by Belarusian opposition People's Anti-Crisis Management initiative, up to 3,500 Ukrainian children from Russia-occupied Ukrainian territories were transported to Belarus. Belarus is also one of the most repressive countries for lawyers. Over the past four years, up to 27% of Belarusian lawyers were disbarred or lost their licenses after representing political prisoners in courts, U.S. government-funded broadcaster RFE/RL reported, citing the International Observatory of Lawyers. We've been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Russia Today
05-02-2025
- Politics
- Russia Today
Russia moves to ratify security pact with key ally
President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday submitted a security treaty with Belarus to the Russian parliament for ratification. The agreement, signed in December 2024, obligates both countries to defend each other's sovereignty and territorial integrity using all available military resources and includes provisions for the potential use of Russian nuclear weapons to protect Belarus in case of external aggression. The treaty 'will ensure the security of Russia and Belarus,' reinforcing military cooperation between the two nations, Putin has said. A key treaty provision involves the deployment of Russian tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, where Russia has already placed ballistic missiles as part of their Union State partnership, the use of which Belarus would be able to request should their use be deemed necessary. The two countries regard the Russian nuclear arsenal as a deterrent to prevent both conventional and nuclear attacks, while their use is considered the last-resort option, according to the agreement. Shortly after the treaty was signed, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko additionally asked for the deployment of Russia's Oreshnik intermediate-range ballistic missiles on Belarusian territory. The new systems, which feature a hypersonic upper stage, could be stationed in Belarus by the end of 2025, according to Putin. READ MORE: Belarus to get Russian Oreshnik shortly – Lukashenko The missiles were unveiled late last year and battle-tested in Ukraine, striking the Yuzhmash military industrial facility in the city of Dnepr in November. Last month, Lukashenko suggested the deployment of the new missiles could occur even earlier, without specifying a timeline. 'We will have the Oreshnik literally any day now. We have agreed with President Vladimir Putin that the next system will be delivered to Belarus even earlier than to Russia,' Lukashenko said. The treaty is now pending approval by the State Duma, with Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin pledging to make the review of the document a priority. 'Security issues are key for us. The provisions of the treaty will ensure additional protection of the sovereignty of our states and their territorial integrity. This is especially important given the constant provocations from the EU countries, including those bordering Belarus,' Volodin said.
