After Sukhoi Su-30SM And Air Defense Missiles, Belarus Wants To Purchase Armaments Worth 1 Billion US Dollars From Russia

Russian President Vladimir Putin with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko. (Wikimedia Commons/Kremlin.ru)

JAKARTA - Belarus's relations with Russia have been getting closer lately, along with sanctions from Western countries. In addition to holding joint war games, the two countries also have a number of common agendas.

Most recently, Russian President Vladimir Putin plans to visit Belarus in mid-October to attend a summit of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), according to Putin's press secretary, Dmitry Peskov.

"Yes, he had such a plan," Peskov told TASS.

On the same day, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said they had agreed with Putin to discuss concrete areas of bilateral cooperation on the sidelines of the CIS summit, which was previously scheduled to be held in Minsk, Belarus on October 15.

President Vladimir Putin and President Lukashenko hold talks in Moscow on September 9. The talks resulted in 28 programs from Russia and Belarus. The following day, the programs were approved by the governments of both countries and will now be endorsed at a meeting of the Supreme Council of the United States, which is expected to be held on November 4.

In addition, President Lukashenko said Belarus plans to buy weapons worth more than 1 billion US dollars from Russia, the potential supply of S-400 missile systems to the country is being discussed, BelTA news agency reported.

"The west direction of Belarus is now completely covered by the S-300 missile system. But we now have a southerly direction," SB, the Belarusian newspaper Segodnya quoted Lukashenko as saying.

Illustration of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko with Russian President Vladimir Putin. (Wikimedia Commons/Kremlin.ru)

Earlier, the Press Service of the Belarusian Ministry of Defense announced that Sukhoi Su-30 SM fighter jets belonging to the Russian Air Force, arrived in Belarus for the establishment of the Joint Air Force and Air Defense training center, on its Telegram channel.

"Russian Aerospace Forces Su-30SM aircraft arrived at Baranovichi airport to establish a joint Russian and Belarusian Air Force and Air Defense training center," the statement said.

"Pilots of the two countries are expected to carry out joint patrols of the United States' air borders," the Defense Ministry statement added.

Prior to the Sukhoi Su-30, the Russian air defense missile unit arrived in Grodno, Belarus on August 28. The decision to establish a joint training center was made during the two countries' Defense Minister talks on March 5. A total of three training centers are planned, the other two are located in the Nizhny Novgorod and Kaliningrad Regions of Russia.

Despite showing increasingly cordial relations, political integration of Russia and Belarus is theoretically possible but not now, Peskov said. According to him, President Putin and President Lukashenko had spoken in sufficient detail, about the myth of further political integration, after their talks in Moscow on September 9.

"Political integration is not possible at the moment. It is theoretically possible, if it is in the interests of both countries. Nobody is planning political integration today, because those countries are not ready for this level of integration right now," he said.

"Now, we are interested in implementing 28 programs and both countries will benefit. So far, nothing else is needed," he said.

According to a Kremlin spokesman, the signing of the 28 trade union programs does not imply their immediate implementation. "Implementation will require enormous effort. We have to align our laws with these programmes. Every country has to work with its parliaments, to adopt laws, normative acts, and so on. That means we have to go a long way," he said.