Russia and Belarus Push Toward New ‘Security Concept’

Russia and Belarus are creating a new State Union Security Concept, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on April 6. Under the new security concept, the two countries will enhance defense integration and military technology collaboration. Preparations are already underway and a draft of the security concept will be discussed at the Supreme State Council in 2024.

Withstanding sanctions: “This document is meant to formulate the fundamental tasks of [Russian and Belarussian] cooperation in the sphere of growing tensions,” Putin said at this year’s Supreme State Council meeting on April 6. “Together, we are implementing comprehensive measures to minimize the damage caused by illegal sanctions.”

According to Belarussian Economy Minister Aleksandr Chervyakov, Western sanctions have “pushed to the forefront the problem of vulnerability of [Russia’s and Belarus’s] economies in the technological sphere.” Chervyakov said this means the new security concept must include becoming technology self-sufficient, increasing cybersecurity, and even enhancing machine building.

Upgrades: Belarus’s ground attack aircraft have already been updated to carry Russia’s nuclear warheads, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said on April 4. He also noted that Russia has delivered multiple nuclear-capable Iskander rocket systems to Belarus.

If necessary, we will use everything to defend our union state and our people.
—Alexander Lukashenko, Belarussian president

Union of Soviet states: Putin looks back fondly on the Soviet era when Belarus and more than a dozen other nations were united under Moscow’s control, and he is actively working to rebuild that model. His assimilation of Belarus—turning it into a de facto Russian state—is evidence of that fact.

To learn more about Putin’s ambitious foreign policy, read The Prophesied ‘Prince of Russia.’