Russia has agreed to provide “modern” military equipment to Belarus, the state news agency reported on Friday. Belta.
The cable quoted a spokeswoman for the country’s president, Alexander Lukashenko, after his Moscow meeting with Vladimir Putin. He did not elaborate on the exact nature of the weapons to be provided.
Russian forces entered Ukraine launching some offensives from Belarus, one of Putin’s most prominent allies.
On the other hand, Ukraine denied that there have been “positive movements” at the talks table with Russia, which contradicts Putin’s statements. In fact, Dmytro Kuleba, Foreign Minister, stressed that there has been “zero progress.”
The armed conflict, which has now lasted two weeks, has caused around 2.5 million Ukrainians and Ukrainians have fled the country, most of them crossing into Poland.
Against this background, the European Union has proposed double the size of a background for Ukraine, in addition to disbursing €300 million in financial aid, with more to come.
And speaking of weapons, a US Defense Department official noted that it’s not clear that Ukraine really needs fighter jets like the ones Poland offered earlier this week, but rather that they could use plus surface-to-air and shoulder anti-aircraft systems.
Ukraine’s air force has about 56 planes and they only fly five to 10 hours a day, the official explained, due to Russia’s extensive coverage of Ukrainian airspace. Therefore, it makes no sense to US officials that sending additional aircraft to Volodymyr Zelensky’s forces would “tip the balance,” the source said.
The Ukrainian air force consists of MiG-29 and SU-27 fighters and SU-24 and SU-25 ground-attack aircraft, according to an analysis by the International Institute for Strategic Studies.
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