Clad in fatigues, Lukashenka surveyed the joint Russian-Belarusian Zapad-2021 military exercises on September 12 and said he expects to receive USD 1 billion worth of arms from Russia by 2025. In recent weeks, the military merger between Russia and Belarus has accelerated. Subscribe for the latest from BelarusAlert The steady militarization of Belarus and the integration of the Russian and Belarusian armed forces have been continuing apace ever since Lukashenka’s brutal crackdown on dissent following the disputed August 2020 presidential election made him a pariah in the West and forced him deeper into Moscow’s arms. Lukashenka’s remarks would not have been news to anybody who has been paying attention to the increasingly disturbing dynamics between Minsk and Moscow over the past year. “If, God forbid, a war starts, the Belarusian army will be the first to engage in the fight, and the western group of Russia’s armed forces will join quickly after to form a joint defense.” “We effectively have a single army, with the Belarusian military forming its backbone in the western direction,” Lukashenka said.
Speaking to reporters earlier this month, the autocratic Belarusian leader declared that his country and Russia had effectively formed “a single army” and appeared to confirm that it was targeting the West.
Alyaksandr Lukashenka said the quiet part out loud.
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