Putin’s closest allies are preparing for World War III

Belarus’ leaders said on Tuesday that fears of World War III were justified and that the country’s Russia-aligned leadership had solidified plans to “prepare as much as possible” for a future conflict.

“The world has fallen into the abyss again,” Belarus’ powerful leader Alexander Lukashenko said at a meeting with senior officials in the country’s capital Minsk on Tuesday.

“We must be as prepared as possible to neutralize risks and threats,” he said in remarks carried by state news agency Belta. He added that “there are grounds for concern” about World War III.

Ukraine’s all-out war, which marks its second anniversary later this week, has raised global concerns that a broader conflict could spill over beyond Ukraine’s borders. The ongoing conflict is the largest in Europe since World War II, and references to the possible use of nuclear weapons have added to concerns as other conflicts rage around the world.

Belarus, a close and staunch ally of Russia, served as a springboard for the Russian military to launch its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The Kremlin has been transferring tactical nuclear weapons to the country, and Belarus has also received Wagner Group mercenaries after they withdrew from Belarus. Russian soil.

But while Belarus has always toed the Kremlin’s line when it comes to geopolitics, it is not known to have sent troops into Russia’s fighting in Ukraine and has insisted on a ceasefire. Lukashenko has been conducting joint military exercises with the Russian government, and said training with the Wagner Mercenaries has been “successful.”

NATO is currently conducting Operation Steadfast Defender, the largest military exercise in Europe since the 1990s, involving around 90,000 troops over several months.

Lukashenko referred to the training, saying Minsk’s intelligence services were “always aware of the situation” and that about 32,000 troops from NATO countries were deployed “in the immediate vicinity of Belarus and Russia.” he claimed.

“I would like to characterize the current stage of the civilizational conflict between the East and the West as follows: the mask has completely fallen off,” President Lukashenko said on Tuesday.

“We need to recognize how serious the situation is,” he continued.

Two new branches of the S-400 anti-aircraft system are now in service with the country’s military, Lukashenko said, referring to a mobile surface-to-air missile system considered roughly equivalent to the U.S. Patriot air defense system. Another two divisions are equipped with Iskander-M missile systems, he said.

Belarus has strengthened ties with Russia since the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine began. Last month, Minsk and Russia signed a new agreement, which President Putin said demonstrated “a true alliance and strategic partnership between Russia and Belarus.”