Russia is stepping up efforts to drag Belarus into its war against Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on May 15, after receiving a briefing from Ukraine's military and intelligence services.
Moscow has made fresh contact with Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko, in an effort to convince him to "join new acts acts of aggression," according to Zelensky, who claimed to "be in possession of the details of the conversation" between the two countries.
Belarus' armed forces, widely understood to be poorly-motivated, outdated, and unprepared for the modern drone-dominated warfare raging in Ukraine, have not yet been actively involved in Russia's war.
However, Minsk has allowed its territory, including a state border with Ukraine stretching over 1,000 kilometers, to be used by Russian forces in its war of aggression, both as a launch site for drone and missile strikes and, crucially, as the staging point for the initial attack on Kyiv.
Unsuccessful in attempts to break through the Ukrainian defense in the east and south of the country, Russia is weighing up new offensive operations in the areas of Kyiv and Chernihiv oblasts, Zelensky said.
