BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

14/11/2008

Belarus seeks Russian arms to counter US anti-missile shield

By Adrian Blomfield in Moscow

President Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus has confirmed that he is in talks with Moscow to place Russian missiles on his country's border with Europe.

Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko: Mr Lukashenko has confirmed he is in talks to place Russian missiles on his country's border with Europe

The admission is likely to increase concern within President-Elect Barack Obama's camp over the diplomatic fallout from an anti-missile shield that Washington wants to build in central Europe.

Arguing that the shield is aimed at undermining Moscow's nuclear deterrent, Dmitry Medvedev, the Russian president, last week ordered the deployment of short-range tactical missiles in the Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad if the project goes ahead.

The United States insists that the shield, which will be made up of a tracking radar and 10 interceptor missiles placed in the Czech Republic and Poland, is meant to protect Europe from a nuclear attack by Iran.

Mr Lukashenko's admission, while not unexpected, comes almost exactly a year after Russian generals first raised the possibility of stationing Iskander missiles in Belarus as well as in Kaliningrad.

The prospect of nuclear-capable missiles being deployed on Poland's northern and eastern borders would seriously undermine the security of Europe and could trigger both an arms race and a new Cold War, analysts say.

Most military experts, however, say that the Kremlin is unlikely to station missiles in two locations, and is almost certain to choose Kaliningrad, which is sovereign Russian territory, over Belarus.

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Mr Lukashenko appeared to concede this point when he declared that Belarus would buy Iskander missiles off Russia if Moscow decided not to station them on his territory.

"Even if Russia does not offer these promising missiles, we will purchase them ourselves," he said. "Right now we do not have the funds, but it is part of our plans -- I am giving away a secret here -- to have such weapons."

Mr Lukashenko's comments are likely to damage his hopes of improving relations with the West. Frequently accused by the United States as presiding over the "last dictatorship in Europe", Mr Lukashenko has actively sought rapprochement with both Washington and the European Union in recent months in an attempt to create a counterweight to Russia's increasingly aggressive ambitions in the former Soviet Union.

Sharing those concerns, especially in the aftermath of Russia's war with Georgia in August, the West has responded by lifting some sanctions on Mr Lukashenko's government.

Source:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/russia/3457705/Belarus-seeks-Russian-arms-to-counter-US-anti-missile-shield.html

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