Russian President Vladimir Putin hosted a meeting of the Russian-led military alliance, the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), on Monday, marking the 30th anniversary of its founding — but the meeting was far from celebratory.
Instead, the heads of state from Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, who make up the collective defense organization similar to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, went to the Kremlin in Moscow on Monday to lament the world’s reaction to Putin’s war in Ukraine.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, seated in a vast room with soaring high ceilings and ornate gold-panelled walls, lamented about “hellish” Western sanctions and efforts to isolate Russia and Belarus — which supports Putin’s military moves in Ukraine — from them the rest of the world.
“Belarus and Russia … are defamed and expelled from international organizations at the whim of the West,” Lukashenko said.
In a joint statement, the CSTO also said they were concerned about the “CSTO’s external borders,” noting that they “stand ready to ensure border security.”
But Lukashenko complained that members of the alliance have not sided with Russia as much as they should, especially as Russia works to address NATO expansion, a common argument Russian officials and allies use to justify the war in Ukraine . In a likely indication that Finland and Sweden have expressed interest in joining NATO, Lukashenko called for more support as NATO threats continue, from “NATO saber-rattling near our western borders to an all-out hybrid war,” according to Interfax who will be unleashed against us”.
“Russia should not fight against NATO enlargement alone,” he said.
Putin himself lamented a “wave of raging Russophobia in the so-called civilized and politically correct Western countries” and promised that NATO enlargement would “certainly provoke a reaction on our part. We will see how it will be based on the threats that are created for us.”
Putin also called for his counterparts to do more for Russia in the future, allegedly citing “documentary evidence” found during the invasion of Ukraine that allegedly shows “biological weapons components were developed in close proximity to our borders.”
To respond to these alleged biological weapons threats — threats Putin said Russia has been facing for some time — Putin rallied CSTO members during the meeting to agree to demonstrate their combined military might by holding joint CSTO exercises this fall in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.
“Efforts to maintain biosecurity also require close attention,” he said.
Putin also appeared to be urging his counterparts to back up his false justification for conducting the “special” military operation in Ukraine – denazifying the country.
“I would like to emphasize our priority task of jointly defending the memory of the victory in the Great Patriotic War, the achievement of our peoples who saved the world from Nazism at enormous and irreparable sacrifices, and counteracting all attempts to whitewash the Nazis , their accomplices and modern supporters,” Putin said, noting that he believes Ukrainians glorify Nazis at the state level.
After the summit, the group noted in a statement that other countries have criticized Russia’s false claims that it invaded Ukraine to try to denazify the country, insisting that that was in fact the aim of the war and not a false pretense of invasion.
We “strongly condemn all attempts to distort historical events related to our common contribution to countering Nazi aggression,” the CSTO said in a statement. “We express serious concern about attempts to ban symbols associated with the victory over Nazism.”
The Putin-centric pity party comes as Russia’s war in Ukraine enters its 82nd day with no end in sight – US Defense Intelligence estimated last week that the war, which has shifted to eastern Ukraine, is almost has reached a “stalemate”. ”
Putin’s military continued to falter in Ukraine. As of Monday, Russian forces have lost 27,700 soldiers, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said in an analysis on Monday.
But even as fighting reaches a protracted state, the Biden administration is still focused on providing security aid to Ukraine to thwart Russian attacks. The government has already provided $300 million in security assistance to Ukraine this fiscal year, with more expected soon.
Putin’s pity party, the CSTO, has lamented the West’s military aid to Ukraine, which the US Department of Defense believes has supported Ukrainian resistance to Russian advances in the war.
“So far, in the West, including in Washington, we only see the desire to prolong the conflict as much as possible,” said Lukashenko, referring to military aid. “The goals are clear: to weaken Russia as much as possible.”
Nevertheless, the aid should continue to flow. Foreign Minister Antony Blinken discussed other weapons and security support with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba at a meeting this weekend in Berlin. And later this week, the Senate is expected to vote on $40 billion in aid to Ukraine, Republican Senate Chairman Mitch MicConnell said Saturday.