Russian General: Airbase in Belarus Needs No Legal Arrangements

Russia is already ready to move its aircraft and troops to Belarus.

President of the Academy of Geopolitical Problems, ex-Chief of the Main Directorate of international military cooperation for the Ministry of Defense of Russia, Colonel General Leonid Ivashov commented on this in his interview to EADaily.

“USA forces in Europe grow stronger not only due to NATO, they grow also in other areas. Nuclear force grows, as well as ground, air and naval forces. And all these forces approach the borders of the NATO countries and Russia. Russia considers Baltic countries and Polish border to be the most vulnerable places. We must give comprehensive responds to such challenges. This may include behaving peremptory in the Security Council, work in Europe, and, of course, reinforcing of our armed forces,” – Ivashov said.

The issue of air base deployment in Belarus, according to military experts, is not crucial for Russia, since a formal absence of an air base does not prevent the quick transfer of Russian troops to Belarus “if need be.”

“If Aliaksandr Lukashenka doesn’t particularly like the idea of placing an airbase, and he considers this to be a kind of infringement of his sovereignty, the legal implementation of the military base is not necessary. You just need to strengthen the common defense space. And it does exist – the joint board of defense ministries is working, the general staffs are cooperating, issues of security both Belarus and our western strategic direction, including the Baltic one, are being practiced during military exercises. And if there really is a threat, then to redeploy a number of units, and not only aviation ones, will be an easy task. On the other hand, now we have to help strengthening the Belarusian armed forces”, – Leonid Ivashov said.

As for the possible coming of Belarusian democratic forces to power, which might interrupt military co-operation, according to Ivashov, we must eliminate this scenario and not repeat the “mistakes made in Ukraine.”

“We should not let the pro-Western forces come to power in Belarus, not to allow the same situation as in Ukraine. Our defeats have to teach us a lesson. So we have to work on it, and the basis for cooperation with Belarus within the framework of the “union state” should not be the economy, which separates the peoples, but the humanitarian sphere, culture, science, education and collaborative technologies“, – the general said.