Russia to send arms, ‘maybe even S-400s’, to Belarus: Lukashenko

Russia will soon deliver a huge military hardware consignment to Belarus, including aircraft, helicopters and air defence systems, Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko was quoted as saying on Wednesday by the Belta state news agency.

The delivery is likely to be interpreted as a further sign of Moscow’s unwavering support for Lukashenko, who faced down the biggest opposition protests against his rule last year by overseeing a violent crackdown condemned by the West.

Russian and Belarusian forces are set to hold large joint military exercises later this month. The Zapad-2021 drills will last from September 10 until 16.

Russia sees its Belarusian ally as a security buffer on its western flank against the NATO military alliance and the European Union.

“Russia in the near future … will supply us – I won’t say how much money or what – with dozens of planes, dozens of helicopters, the most important air defence weapons,” Lukashenko was quoted as saying.

“Maybe even S-400s (surface-to-air missiles). We need them very much as I’ve said in the past,” he said.

“In a word, the most modern equipment. We will equip ourselves. If we see during the exercise (Zapad-2021) that we need something else, then we will buy it from the Russian Federation and commission it,” he added.

Lukashenko and Russian President Vladimir Putin are due to hold talks in Russia on the eve of the military exercise, on September 9.

During a record eight-hour meeting with the public and journalists on August 9, an annual event dubbed, “The Big Conversation with the President”, Lukashenko expressed an interest in the S-400 system, saying Minsk had contacted Russian President Vladimir Putin for a shipment “for a special price, on credit.”

Russia and Belarus are formally part of a “union state” and have been in talks for years to further integrate their nations.

The negotiations have long spurred fears among the beleaguered Belarusian opposition that Lukashenko might trade chunks of sovereignty in return for even more political backing from the Kremlin.