Global Courant
Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko (R) at the Grand Kremlin Palace on May 25, 2023 in Moscow, Russia.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin said Ukraine’s counter-offensive “failed” when he received Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko, his closest ally, for talks in St Petersburg on Sunday.
“There is no counter-offensive,” Russian news agencies quoted Lukashenko.
Putin replied: “It exists, but it has failed.”
Ukraine launched its long-awaited counter-offensive last month, but has so far made only small gains against the well-entrenched Russian forces that control more than a sixth of its territory after nearly 17 months of war.
US General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said on Tuesday the Ukrainian advance was “far from a failure” but would be long, hard and bloody.
Read more about Russia’s war against Ukraine:
A Telegram channel linked to Lukashenko jokingly quoted him as saying fighters from Russia’s Wagner mercenary group who now train the Belarusian army were keen to cross the border into NATO member Poland.
“Wagner’s boys are starting to stress us – they want to go west. ‘Let’s go on a trip to Warsaw and Rzeszow,'” he said. There was no indication that Lukashenko seriously entertained that idea.
On Thursday, the Belarusian defense ministry said Wagner fighters had begun training Belarusian special forces at a military range just a few miles from the Polish border.
Poland is moving additional troops to the border with Belarus in response to the arrival of Wagner troops who moved there after staging a short-lived mutiny in Russia last month.
Putin warned Poland in response on Friday that any aggression against Belarus would be regarded as an attack on Russia. He said Moscow would use all means to respond to any animosity towards Minsk.
Helpful partner
Russia and Belarus are linked in a partnership called the “union state” in which Moscow is by far the dominant player. But Lukashenko has proved his worth to Putin since invading Ukraine in February 2022, which allowed Russia to use his country as a launching pad at the start of the war.
He has subsequently trained Russian troops at his military bases, held regular joint exercises and received tactical nuclear weapons that Putin placed in Belarus in an action widely condemned in the West.
The Kremlin also credited Lukashenko with brokering last month’s deal to end the Wagner mutiny, which Putin said had briefly threatened to plunge Russia into civil war.
Putin said the two leaders will meet on Sunday and Monday and discuss security and other issues “in great detail and in depth”.
Lukashenko has not deployed his small army to join the Russian war, but the risk of another attack from Belarusian soil is forcing Ukraine to protect its northern border and increase its troops as it tries to step up its counter-offensive in the east and south of the country.
