Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko at the Constantine Palace in St. Petersburg yesterday, where they discussed, among other things, the progress of the Union State of Russia and Belarus. Mostly the discussion was on economic relations between the two countries and the fact that the occasion for their meeting was the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Moscow and Minsk.
Of some note, Putin confirmed that Russia will supply Iskander M tactical ballistic missiles to Belarus. Putin told Lukashenko: “As we had agreed on the issue you raised, a decision was made in our country: within the next several months, we will transfer to Belarus the Iskander-M tactical missile systems, which are known to use both ballistic and cruise missiles, both conventional and nuclear. I suggest we issue instructions to our defense ministries and chiefs of general staffs to work out all the details concerning these joint efforts.”
“I agree absolutely,” said Lukashenko. “It’s a deal,” concluded Putin. ((http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/68702)
Lukashenko had requested that nuclear-capable missiles be placed on Belarusian territory a number of months ago, but the deal was only announced yesterday. The NATO escalation of provocations against Russia, in the form of Lithuania’s EU-backed announcement that they would blockade all land shipments by Russia to its exclave Kaliningrad, which of necessity must go through Lithuania, may have been one factor in the timing of the announcement.
