{"id":11360,"date":"2022-02-22T00:44:05","date_gmt":"2022-02-21T21:44:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/api.pozirk.online\/longreads\/belarus-military-sovereignty-diminishes\/"},"modified":"2026-02-24T20:29:13","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T20:29:13","slug":"belarus-military-sovereignty-diminishes","status":"publish","type":"longreads","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/11360\/","title":{"rendered":"Belarus\u2019 military sovereignty diminishes"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n By Valieryj Karbalievi\u010d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n Whereas a few years ago Aliaksandr Luka\u0161enka\u2019s independence of Moscow helped him keep a tight grip on power, after the 2020 presidential election he fully relies on Russian support to stay in power. <\/b>\n<\/p>\n

<\/b><\/p>\n

\n\t The Belarusian and Russian leaders can agree on anything to hurt the West. They demonstrated a unity of opinion during their meeting in Moscow on February 18. Vladimir Putin and Luka\u0161enka observed test-launches of hypersonic and cruise missiles on screens at the Kremlin.\n<\/p>\n

Luka\u0161enka looking to benefit as much as possible<\/span> <\/h2>\n

\n\t In the 1990s Luka\u0161enka severely criticized Moscow for making concessions to the United States and NATO. After the annexation of Crimea in 2014, he performed a balancing act between Russia and the West until 2020.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t Now he and Vladimir Putin are enjoying a honeymoon. It may not last long. Belarus is Russia\u2019s only ally in its standoff with the West. Luka\u0161enka is looking to benefit as much as possible from this opportunity.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t He needs Russian support to hold on to power as he fears that a constitutional referendum scheduled for February 27 may spark mass protests. He needs Russian assistance to bypass and mitigate Western sanctions. He announced that Putin had ordered the construction of a port in the Leningrad region for transshipping Belarusian transits.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t And finally, he critically needs Moscow\u2019s financial aid.\n<\/p>\n

Price to pay for backing<\/span> <\/h2>\n

\n\t Luka\u0161enka has received almost everything he has asked for recently, especially in terms of political support.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t But he has paid a high price for it \u2013 he has ceded his fundamental sovereignty over military affairs. Russia has increased its military presence in Belarus and uses it to exert pressure on the West amid tension over possible Ukraine invasion.\n<\/p>\n

Putin decides<\/span> <\/h2>\n

\n\t Luka\u0161enka said on February 17 that he would decide with Putin whether Russian troops would stay on in Belarus after the maneuvers, Allied Resolve 2022. In fact, he admitted that he would do whatever Putin tells him. He no longer has the power to decide what happens on the Belarusian territory. And Putin decided that Russian troops should stay on.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t Moreover, Russian troops are likely to leave ammunition behind after they withdraw.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t Luka\u0161enka said there was no need to set up Russian military bases in Belarus. But he had approved the launch of three joint training centers, including one center in Belarus. He also said he would ask Putin to provide Iskander missiles for a fourth training center. Since the training centers host Russian combat units, they are not much different from Russian military bases.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t Luka\u0161enka repeatedly said that Belarus and Russia had a common army. \u201cBelarus is also interested in having its sailors trained in Kaliningrad or Murmansk so that they will serve in joint units,\u201d he said. This means Belarusians may be drafted to the Russian Navy. Not sure Belarusians will like the idea.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t Asked what Belarus would do if Russia recognized the breakaway Donetsk and Luhansk People\u2019s Republics, Luka\u0161enka said, \u201cWe will discuss with Putin what we should do to make it better for both Russia and Belarus. It will be a joint decision.\u201d The statement\u2019s meaning is the same \u2013 Putin is the one who decides.\n<\/p>\n

Strongman\u2019s image fades<\/span> <\/h2>\n

\n\t More than a decade ago, Luka\u0161enka did not cave to demands from Moscow to recognize Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent states. He said that Moscow had refused to offset losses that Belarus could have incurred if the West had imposed sanctions.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t His rhetoric has changed dramatically. He is no longer independent in his decisions. He now says it will be \u201ca joint decision\u201d meaning that Minsk\u2019s will do what Moscow tells it.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t Luka\u0161enka also said that Belarus will offer any support to Russia in the event of a war in the Donbass region.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t His historical mission has changed. Whereas before a degree of independence from Moscow helped him consolidate his grip on power, now his power fully depends on the scale of Russian support, and he fully depends on Russia. Not surprisingly the West sees Lukashenka as a threat to Belarus\u2019 independence.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t The region is on the verge of a war that can change a lot of things, including Belarus\u2019 status.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Valieryj Karbalievi\u010d Whereas a few years ago Aliaksandr Luka\u0161enka\u2019s independence of Moscow helped him keep a tight grip on power, after the 2020 presidential election he fully relies on Russian support to stay in power. The Belarusian and Russian leaders can agree on anything to hurt the West. They demonstrated a unity of opinion […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":75,"featured_media":0,"template":"","rubric":[22],"class_list":["post-11360","longreads","type-longreads","status-publish","hentry","rubric-theviewer"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nBelarus\u2019 military sovereignty diminishes | Pozirk<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"By Valieryj Karbalievi\u010d Whereas a few years ago Aliaksandr Luka\u0161enka\u2019s independence of Moscow helped him keep a tight grip on power, after the 2020\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/11360\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Belarus\u2019 military sovereignty diminishes | Pozirk\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Valieryj Karbalievi\u010d Whereas a few years ago Aliaksandr Luka\u0161enka\u2019s independence of Moscow helped him keep a tight grip on power, after the 2020\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/11360\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Pozirk\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pozirkonline\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-02-24T20:29:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Pozirk_online\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/11360\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/11360\/\"},\"headline\":\"Belarus\u2019 military sovereignty diminishes\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-02-21T21:44:05+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-24T20:29:13+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/11360\/\"},\"wordCount\":704,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#organization\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/11360\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/11360\/\",\"name\":\"Belarus\u2019 military sovereignty diminishes | Pozirk\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2022-02-21T21:44:05+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-24T20:29:13+00:00\",\"description\":\"By Valieryj Karbalievi\u010d Whereas a few years ago Aliaksandr Luka\u0161enka\u2019s independence of Moscow helped him keep a tight grip on power, after the 2020\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/11360\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/11360\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/11360\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Belarus\u2019 military sovereignty diminishes\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/\",\"name\":\"Pozirk\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Pozirk\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/cropped-Logo_color_512.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/cropped-Logo_color_512.png\",\"width\":512,\"height\":512,\"caption\":\"Pozirk\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pozirkonline\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/Pozirk_online\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Belarus\u2019 military sovereignty diminishes | Pozirk","description":"By Valieryj Karbalievi\u010d Whereas a few years ago Aliaksandr Luka\u0161enka\u2019s independence of Moscow helped him keep a tight grip on power, after the 2020","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/11360\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Belarus\u2019 military sovereignty diminishes | Pozirk","og_description":"By Valieryj Karbalievi\u010d Whereas a few years ago Aliaksandr Luka\u0161enka\u2019s independence of Moscow helped him keep a tight grip on power, after the 2020","og_url":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/11360\/","og_site_name":"Pozirk","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pozirkonline\/","article_modified_time":"2026-02-24T20:29:13+00:00","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_site":"@Pozirk_online","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/11360\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/11360\/"},"headline":"Belarus\u2019 military sovereignty diminishes","datePublished":"2022-02-21T21:44:05+00:00","dateModified":"2026-02-24T20:29:13+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/11360\/"},"wordCount":704,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#organization"},"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/11360\/","url":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/11360\/","name":"Belarus\u2019 military sovereignty diminishes | Pozirk","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#website"},"datePublished":"2022-02-21T21:44:05+00:00","dateModified":"2026-02-24T20:29:13+00:00","description":"By Valieryj Karbalievi\u010d Whereas a few years ago Aliaksandr Luka\u0161enka\u2019s independence of Moscow helped him keep a tight grip on power, after the 2020","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/11360\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/11360\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/11360\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Belarus\u2019 military sovereignty diminishes"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/","name":"Pozirk","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#organization","name":"Pozirk","url":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/cropped-Logo_color_512.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/cropped-Logo_color_512.png","width":512,"height":512,"caption":"Pozirk"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pozirkonline\/","https:\/\/x.com\/Pozirk_online"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/longreads\/11360","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/longreads"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/longreads"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/75"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11360"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"rubric","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rubric?post=11360"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}