Belarus Insists Troop Deployment With Russia Is ‘Purely Defensive’

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko walk during a meeting in Sochi, Russia, on May 23, 2022. (Sputnik/Ramil Sitdikov/Kremlin via Reuters)

Belarus’ decision to deploy its forces alongside Russian troops is solely for defensive purposes to protect its borders, the country announced.

Earlier this week, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said the two nations had deployed forces together. However, he did not reveal where the military was deployed. His statement came as a bridge linking Russia to Crimea was bombed, with Moscow blaming the blast on Ukraine.

The news of deployment raised concerns that Belarusian troops could aid Russia in capturing and occupying Ukraine’s eastern territories. Belarus has rejected these speculations.

“We emphasize once again that the tasks of the Regional Grouping of Forces are purely defensive. And all activities carried out at the moment are aimed at providing a sufficient response to actions near our borders,” Belarusian Defense Minister Viktor Khrenin said in a statement, according to The Moscow Times.

The head of Belarus’ security council, Alexander Volfovich, blamed Western nations for spreading propaganda that his country might carry out a “special military operation” in Ukraine, he was cited as saying by the defense ministry.

Volfovich insisted that European nations are “openly considering possible options for aggression” against Belarus. Ukraine is also discussing the possibility of striking Belarus, he said.

Just months before Russia invaded Ukraine in February, Belarus allowed Russian forces into its territory using a similar pretext. At the time, the presence of Russian troops in Belarus was attributed to military exercises between the two nations.

Belarus–Ukraine Conflict

The attack on the bridge linking Russia and Crimea was used as a pretext by Moscow to fire cruise missiles on Ukrainian cities on Monday. Putin had called the bridge destruction a terrorist attack on Russian soil.

Later, Lukashenko claimed that he had received warnings through “unofficial channels” about Ukraine planning to strike Belarusian territory.

On Tuesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his country has no intention to attack Belarus. He asked G-7 nations to support his call for deploying international observers on the Ukraine–Belarus border to “monitor the security situation,” according to Reuters.

Though the Belarusian president is indicating a potential war with Ukraine, many experts are doubtful whether he would push ahead with it.

In an interview with The Guardian, Artyom Shraibman, a Belarusian political analyst and nonresident scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, pointed out that although Putin has a lot of leverage, he cannot compel Lukashenko to commit “political suicide.”

“That is why I think Lukashenko will definitely try to resist any push into a full war,” he said. “On the other hand, I cannot bet that he will be successful in this forever. … There are ways that Russia can act that would provoke Belarus into the fighting.”