Is Putin planning to take over another European country after Ukraine?

In addition to the war in Ukraine, Russia is said to have plans to take over another European country: Belarus. Russian control in the country is already strong.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has transformed Belarus into a critical strategic ally, utilizing it as a staging ground for the significant military incursion into Ukraine, stationing Russian nuclear weapons on Belarusian territory, and enhancing bilateral trade relationships.

This shift has not only tethered Belarus closely to Moscow but effectively turned it into an integral component of Putin's vision of a revived Soviet-like empire. Furthermore, indications suggest that Putin has no intentions of loosening his grip on the country anytime soon.

In December last year, an agreement was already concluded between Belarusian President Lukashenko and Putin, in which mutual security guarantees were given, including Belarus' support for Russia's use of nuclear weapons.

The stationing of Russian nuclear weapons on Belarusian territory was also negotiated in 2023. The opposition in Belarus commented on the agreement by saying that Belarus was now just a "militarized satellite of Russia", according to the German media outlet news.de.

The collaboration between the two nations is set to intensify, with experts suggesting, per recent media accounts, that President Putin is looking to extend a security framework.

In the 'strategic planning document', as the Secretary of the Russian Security Council, Sergei Shoigu (photo right), calls it according to the 'Express', the constitutions and security concepts of the two states as well as the Union State Treaty of 1999 and national security strategies are to be taken into account, according to news.de.

The document should delineate shared strategic objectives, along with associated tasks and priorities.

According to the Secretary of the Security Council, the experiences of both countries in "countering the plans of external and internal destructive forces" should be taken into account.

The aim is to prevent "the collapse of the Union State and the destruction of traditional ties between the brotherly peoples of Russia and Belarus".

At the same time, the document contains assessments of the global security situation and at the borders of the Union State, according to news.de.

The Institute for the Study of War (ISW), on the other hand, sees the document as a step in planning an annexation of Belarus, according to the 'Express'.

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