A military analyst has said that Vladimir Putin is doing everything he can by using his “political tools” to integrate Belarus into the Russian Federation.
On Tuesday the Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said that some “Belarusian ground attack aircraft received the ability to strike at targets with nuclear weapons.”
Shoigu added that Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko’s forces have also received “Iksander M operational-tactical missile systems. It can use both conventional and nuclear missiles.”
Lukashenko now has low-yield tactical nuclear weapons which have a relatively short range, however the strategic weapons like the missile borne warheads are a big threat to Europe.
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The Russian tactical nuclear weapons based in Belarus are now closer to NATO and any other central European country which could strike within minutes.
Former air vice marshall Sean Bell said that Putin it using “Machiavellian” tactics to integrate Belarus into Russia and the Russian leader is using “all the political tools at his disposal to increase control over Belarus.”
Bell told Sky News, “The aim is to create a borderless alliance between Russia and Belarus, and President Putin has certainly put a lot more urgency around that probably because the war is not going well in Ukraine and he wants to secure Belarus.”
One of Putin’s goals is to replace the former Soviet Union which the war in Ukraine has by in large stopped his revival which is a major factor in Poland helping Ukraine.
Bell added, “Poland will be really concerned about Putin’s long-term ambitions outside of Ukraine itself.”
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