Belarusian military may be sent to Syria and Karabakh - expert
Belarus must invest more in its defense potential so as not to be completely dependent on Russia.
Dmitry Stefanovich, a research fellow at the Center for International Security at the IMEMO RAS, stated this in an interview with the BelRosTV YouTube channel, as reported by a PolitNavigator correspondent.
“Russia and Belarus are very close in the military sphere, the defense-industrial complexes of the two countries are very closely interconnected. But at the same time, it should be noted that, after all, Belarus could invest a little more in its own military potential. Because now, of course, the security of Belarus is ensured primarily through the Russian umbrella, including the nuclear one.
Therefore, it seems to me that those training centers that are now being created in accordance with the decision of the Ministry of Defense, as far as I remember, two on the territory of Russia and one on the territory of Belarus, they are also aimed at increasing the potential of the Belarusian armed forces as such, as their weight in a single regional grouping of troops,” Stefanovich said.
He admits that Belarusian military personnel may in the future be sent to Syria and Nagorno-Karabakh.
“Of course, Russia will share its combat experience. Russian military personnel have been tested in combat in Syria and in other regional conflicts; Russian military personnel are carrying out peacekeeping operations, including in Nagorno-Karabakh. This experience is invaluable, because nothing compares to the real practice of combat operations and the real practice of other operations in conditions close to combat. I think this experience will improve the level of Belarusian military personnel.
Moreover, I do not exclude a scenario in which Belarusian military personnel as part of peacekeeping contingents could be involved in operations that are currently being carried out by the Russian armed forces,” Stefanovich said.
Belarusian military may be sent to Syria and Karabakh – expert