Lithuanian Defence Minister: Russian airbase would undermine Belarus' goals

According to Lithuania’s Minister of National Defence, Juozas Olekas, a Russian airbase in Belarus would worsen Belarus' relations with Lithuania and would undermine Belarus' goal to normalise its ties with NATO and the European Union.

His comments came in response to Russian President Vladimir Putin's order for Russia’s Defence and Foreign Affairs Ministries to start negotiations with their Belarusian counterparts on buildings an airbase.

"With no doubt, a new Russian army base in Belarus would fuel tension in our region and would have a negative impact on bilateral Lithuanian-Belarusian relations,” Olekas told BNS on September 21, 2015. “It would also undermine Belarus' goal to normalise its relations with the European Union and NATO.”

The minister noted Belarus and Russia's military relations were "widely known" but expressed hope that Belarus' leadership "will not let itself dragged into further implementation of Russia's aggressive policy towards its neighbours and the NATO alliance."

Olekas also paid attention to the fact that Minsk has so far not expressed its position on the matter.

Putin, who met with Belarusian President, Alexander Lukashenko, in the southern Russian coastal city of Sochi last week, ordered the Ministries of Defence and Foreign Affairs to hold negotiations with their Belarusian counterparts on the establishment of a Russian air base in Belarus. 

Lukashenko, however, has not yet commented on Putin's initiative.

Russia now has radio transmitters and navy communication objects in Belarus which neighbours NATO members Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, and Ukraine.

However, the planned airbase would be the first of its kind.