MOSCOW, Sept. 1 (Reuters) – Russia will soon deliver a huge shipment of military hardware to Belarus, including planes, helicopters and air defense systems, Belta news agency Alexander Lukashenko said on Wednesday.
The surrender is likely to be interpreted as another sign of Moscow’s unwavering support for Lukashenko, who faced his government’s biggest opposition protests last year overseeing violent repression condemned by the West.
Russian and Belarusian forces will have to conduct major joint military exercises by the end of this month. Russia sees its Belarusian ally as a security buffer on its western flank against the military alliance between NATO and the European Union.
“Russia in the near future … will supply us (I will not say how much money or what) with dozens of planes, dozens of helicopters, the most important air defense weapons,” Lukashenko said.
“Maybe even the S-400s (surface missiles). We need them a lot like I’ve said in the past,” he said.
Lukashenko and Russian President Vladimir Putin are due to hold talks in Russia on September 9th.
Russia and Belarus are formally part of a “union state” and have held talks for years to further integrate their nations.
Negotiations have long sparked fears among the besieged Belarusian opposition that Lukashenko could exchange pieces of sovereignty in exchange for even more political support from the Kremlin.
Reports by Nastya Teterevleva and Maxim Rodionov Written by Tom Balmforth Edited by Andrew Osborn
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