Belarus leader stands with Russia in campaign

Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with Alexander Lukashenko, his Belarusian counterpart in Saint Petersburg on 25 June 2022.

President of Belarus, Vladimir Putin's closest ally, said Sunday that his ex-Soviet country backed Russia in its military campaign in Ukraine. This was part of Moscow's longstanding commitment to a "union" state.

Alexander Lukashenko has been in power since 1994. He is being accused by the West for human rights violations and has allowed Russian troops access to his territory in order to invade Ukraine.

Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the Ukrainian president, said that the statement of the Belarusian leader was a "signal", and his actions should be closely monitored. According to some Ukrainian officials, Belarus could be involved in the conflict soon.

Lukashenko addressed a ceremony commemorating the anniversary of the World War Two liberation Minsk by Soviet soldiers. He said that he had supported Putin's campaign against Ukraine "from the very beginning" in February.

"Today, we are being criticized for being the only country to support Russia's fight against Nazism. "We support and will continue supporting Russia," Lukashenko told the crowd in a video posted by the state BelTA news agency.

"And those who criticize us, do not they know that we have such an intimate union with the Russian Federation That we have almost a single army. You knew this. We will continue to be together with fraternal Russia."

Although Belarus has been committed since the mid-90s to becoming a "union country" with Russia, little progress has been made in implementing this plan. Lukashenko insists that Belarus must maintain its "sovereignty".

However, Lukashenko has become more dependent on Russia since he managed to contain mass protests from demonstrators accusing Lukashenko of orchestrating his 2020 re-election.

Zelenskiy was quoted in Ukrainian media as saying that Lukashenko's remarks were "dangerous".

Zelenskiy, Australia's prime minster, said that "Lukashenko’s statement about a united army with Russia was, above all, dangerous to the Belarusian people."

"He cannot drag Belarus into a Russian war against Ukraine. This is a dangerous signal. This signal will have dire consequences for all of us.

Last week, a senior Ukrainian intelligence official stated that there was little chance of an invasion by troops from Belarus on Ukraine.

Andriy Sadoviy the mayor of Lviv said that the situation at the Belarusian border is unpredictable. He convened a meeting with city officials to discuss contingency plans in the event of an escalation.