November 28, Pozirk. The situation in the world is “only getting worse,” with the arms race “rapidly gaining momentum,” Alaksandar Łukašenka has told top security officials from Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) member states in Kazakhstan’s Astana.
“The militarization of the Eastern European region, especially Poland, continues,” his press office quoted him as saying. The Belarusian ruler also complained about the expansion of NATO activities in Europe and globally.
He omitted the fact that Eastern Europe started building up its defense capabilities in response to Russia’s full-scale war on Ukraine, in which Minsk supports the Kremlin.
Five out of six CTSO member states participated in the summit: Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan. Armenia froze its membership as it considers pulling out of the CSTO over the latter’s failure to respond to Azerbaijan’s capture of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Armenia’s absence “characterizes the current geopolitical situation in the region” and “to some extent” the bloc itself, said Łukašenka, who supported Azerbaijan in its conflict with Minsk’s ally Armenia, including by supplying weapons.
The Astana summit is the second CSTO event that Yerevan ignored after it refused to participate in a similar event in Minsk last November.
