Putin, Łukašenka sign agreement on security guarantees

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December 6 (21:53), Pozirk. Alaksandar Łukašenka and Russian President Vladimir Putin have signed an interstate treaty on security guarantees, a Union State security concept, a document on the abolition of roaming from March 1 and an agreement to launch a common electricity market.

At the Supreme State Council’s meeting, the Belarusian ruler asked Putin to deploy Russian weapons systems, including the ballistic missile Oreshnik, in Belarus.

Łukašenka expressed his concern about threats from Western Europe, especially from Poland and Lithuania, which he said are more dangerous than Ukraine.

In his opinion, the Oreshnik would cool hotheads “ready to go to war against Belarus.”

“We have certain sites where we can place these weapons on one condition, that the targets for these weapons will be determined by the military-political leadership of Belarus. In the meantime, you will train us to use these weapons,” Łukašenka said. He added that he would let Russians maintain the Oreshnik missiles and fire them at some targets.

Putin agreed, saying that the Oreshnik in Belarus will be part of the Russian Strategic Rocket Forces, but it will be up to Minsk to designate the targets.

Missiles would be supplied to the Russian Strategic Rocket Forces and the Belarusian Armed Forces “in parallel,” he said.

Putin said the missiles could be deployed in Belarus in the second half of 2025 “as their production increases.” Before that, it will be necessary to determine the minimum range of these systems, he noted.

In the morning of November 21, Russia struck the city of Dnipro, home to Pivdenmash, a factory that manufactures rocket, space and other equipment. Putin later claimed that the Russian army used a non-nuclear ballistic missile called Oreshnik for the strike. He claimed that there is no way to intercept it.

Minsk supports Moscow in its full-scale war against Ukraine.

December 6 (19:53), Pozirk. The Russian-Belarusian agreement on security guarantees signed today defines the parties’ obligation to defend each other’s sovereignty, independence and constitutional order, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said at the Union State supreme council meeting in Minsk.

It provides for defending the alliance’s territory and border with “all available forces and means,” he said.

This includes Russian tactical nuclear weapons stationed in Belarus at the suggestion of Alaksandar Łukašenka, he added.

Putin reiterated that nuclear weapons could be used “for defensive purposes in response to a possible attack with weapons of mass destruction or to repel aggression with conventional weapons, should it create a critical threat to our sovereignty or territorial integrity.”

The Belarusian leader claimed that the deal would guarantee peaceful life, but noted that plans to conclude it have irritated the West.

Belarusian Foreign Minister Maksim Ryžankoŭ told state media that “initially, there was an idea of Russian security guarantees for Belarus.”

“But we live in the Union State, and if we are partners, reliable allies and brothers, then the guarantees should be mutual,” he added.

December 6 (18: 26), Pozirk. Only Alaksandar Łukašenka has the right to use nuclear weapons stationed in Belarus, claimed Alaksandar Valfovič, state secretary of the country’s the Security Council, speaking to state media journalists in Minsk ahead of the Union State’s supreme council meeting.

He said that Alaksandar Łukašenka and Vladimir Putin each have “their own red buttons, their own suitcases, their own nuclear briefcases.”

Previously, Moscow repeatedly said that it controls the nuclear weapons stationed in Belarus.

On November 24, the BelPol association of former security officers released an investigation exposing the lack of evidence of Russian nuclear deployment in Belarus.

The Supreme State Council is expected to consider an agreement on mutual security guarantees, declaring Russia’s readiness to use nuclear weapons in response to external aggression against Belarus.

December 6, Pozirk. Russia has invested over $4 billion in the Belarusian economy, said Russian President Vladimir Putin on December 6, without specifying the period, the Kremlin’s press office reported.

Putin spoke at a meeting of the Union State Supreme State Council in Minsk.

He said that about 2,500 Russian-owned and co-owned companies operate in Belarus.

The Russian leader said he will sign an agreement on a common electricity market today to “reduce prices for end consumers both in Russia and Belarus.”

Alaksandar Łukašenka spoke in favor of a uniform economic policy and equal rights of citizens, a coordinated industrial policy, common approaches to food security, technological sovereignty, import substitution and the elimination of barriers to bilateral trade.

“Only 27 import substitution projects are being implemented. I think that for the common market of Belarus and Russia, estimated at $2 trillion in combined GDP, this figure should be hundreds times higher,” Łukašenka said.

He also complained about an outflow of Belarusian workers to Russia, “which in our time means that we have a labor shortage.” “We need a coordinated policy in this area and effective legal mechanisms that take into account the interests of both parties,” he said.