Putin and Lukashenko to Sign Agreement on Security Guarantees
Vladimir Putin (L) and Alexander Lukashenko (R) X/ @MarioNawfal
December 6, 2024 Hour: 8:38 am
The agreement would allow for the possibility of Russia using atomic weapons in the event of a threat to Belarus’s security.
On Friday, Presidents Vladimir Putin (Russia) and Alexander Lukashenko (Belarus) will sign an agreement on security guarantees during their meeting in Minsk as part of the Russia-Belarus Union State framework.
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The agreement will include “mutual obligations to ensure security. This is, perhaps, the highest degree of alliance,” said Dmitry Peskov, the Russian presidential spokesperson.
He emphasized that the agreement’s priority will be to strengthen the defense of the shared space and added that the two leaders will also approve a Union State Security Concept.
“A unique document will be signed… It is the first regulatory document stating that, if necessary, the two states will mutually guarantee each other’s security if one country turns to the other,” Peskov explained.
The Kremlin spokesperson noted that this document is “explicitly based on Russia’s policy in the realm of nuclear weapons,” a doctrine recently approved by Putin. This doctrine allows the use of nuclear weapons in response to a conventional attack that threatens the existence of either nation.
“Russia ensures that, in the event of a threat to Belarus’s security, it can also use nuclear weapons to protect the national interests of Belarus,” Peskov stated, while clarifying that the documents do not automatically imply Belarusian troops’ involvement in Russia’s military campaign in Ukraine.
Two years ago, Putin approved the deployment of tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus as a deterrent against NATO’s advance. On Friday, both Putin and Lukashenko will also address the Supreme Soviet of the Union State.
teleSUR/ JF Source: EFE
