The Kremlin has stated that Russian President Vladimir Putin will shortly discuss with Alexander Lukashenko Ukraine’s demand that Belarus remove, within a week, the relay stations that are used to guide Russian drone strikes on Ukrainian cities.
According to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, this will be a “good opportunity” to “discuss these and other issues”.
Peskov described the statement by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as “utterly aggressive”, “interference in internal affairs” and “an encroachment on the sovereignty” of Belarus.
The Kremlin stated that it had “no doubt” that Belarus was “capable of safeguarding its sovereignty”.
On 19 June, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that equipment had been installed in Belarus on the border with Ukraine, which the Russian military was using to direct attacks on Ukraine, and called on Alexander Lukashenko to remove this equipment within a week.
According to the President, specialised equipment has been installed along the Ukrainian border on Belarusian territory, which helps Russian forces to direct drone strikes. Intelligence sources are aware of four such repeaters in the Gomel and Brest regions.
“If anyone provokes us and tries, as some say, to drag us into a war, I think it will end badly for those who attempt to do so. We are behaving calmly,” Lukashenko was quoted as saying recently by the Telegram channel ‘Pool of the First’, which is close to the current administration.
Belarus is not directly involved in the war against Ukraine, but in February 2022 its authorities allowed Russian troops to transit through and be stationed on the country’s territory, and strikes were launched against Ukraine from Belarusian territory.