Putin: Western pressure accelerates Belarus’ integration into Russia

President Vladimir Putin said today that political pressure from the West is speeding up Belarus’ integration with neighboring Russia, Reuters reported.

“Unprecedented political and social pressure from the so-called collective West pushes us to accelerate the process of integration: together to minimize the damage from illegal sanctions, to make it simpler to manage the production of the required products, to develop new capabilities , to expand cooperation with friendly countries,” Putin said at a bilateral forum.

The two neighbors signed a Union Treaty in 1997 that aimed to restore some of the close ties severed by the collapse of the Soviet Union.

But authoritarian Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko’s enthusiasm for uniting the two states has waxed and waned at times, as has Belarus’ economic dependence on its much larger and wealthier cousin.

Lukashenko became closer to Moscow in late 2020, when Putin provided political and financial support as he quelled a wave of anti-government protests sparked by a presidential election the opposition said was rigged.

In February, Lukashenko allowed Moscow to use Belarus as a base for some of the Russian armored phalanxes that invaded Ukraine.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said last week that the two countries urgently need to take joint measures to improve their defense capabilities and the combat readiness of their troops.

Under the Treaty of Union, each state remains sovereign, but grants citizens of the other state rights of residence and citizenship.

While the union has promoted economic integration and provides for mutual defense in the event of attack, efforts to establish a common currency failed nearly two decades ago.