Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu called on Thursday (23) to strengthen the joint defense capabilities of Russia and Belarus, including a unified regional air defense system.
“Circumstances dictate the need to take urgent joint measures to strengthen the defense capability of the State of the Union, increase the combat readiness of the regional troop grouping and the unified regional air defense system,” he said at a meeting with the minister. of the Defense of Belarus, Viktor Khrenin, in Moscow.
Shoigu also called Belarus to be “Russia’s closest friend”. Alexander Lukashenko, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, is the only leader in Europe to support Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The Belarusian border with Ukraine was used as part of the invasion by Russian troops.
BRICS back Ukraine-Russia talks
The BRICS countries – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – said they supported negotiations between Russia and Ukraine in a joint statement posted on the Kremlin’s website on Thursday.
“We discussed the situation in Ukraine and recalled our national positions expressed in the appropriate forum, namely the UN Security Council and the UN General Assembly. We support negotiations between Russia and Ukraine.”
“We also discussed our concerns about the humanitarian situation in and around Ukraine and expressed our support for the efforts of the UN Secretary General, UN agencies and the International Red Cross to provide humanitarian assistance in accordance with the basic principles of humanity, neutrality and impartiality established in UN General Assembly Resolution 46/182,” they added.
The BRICS summit, hosted by Beijing, marks Russian President Vladimir Putin’s first international forum with other leaders of major economies since he launched his invasion of Ukraine in February.
Since the beginning of the war, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has indicated that he is willing to hold direct talks with Putin.
Source: CNN Brasil
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