Russian President Vladimir Putin (left) and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko shake hands while posing for a photo during a ceremony in the Kremlin, Moscow, Russia on June 24, 2020 (Alexei Nikolsky / Russian Presidential Information Bureau / TASS / Getty Images)
Russian President Vladimir Putin said he had discussed Belarus’ interest in having access to the Baltic Sea in a telephone conversation with Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko.
“Exactly today we talked with the President of Belarus on this issue. Our Belarusian friends are interested in a presence in the Baltic Sea, they are interested in developing their own port facilities. You know that I also support him, “Putin said during a ceremony for a new Russian ferry, which he attended virtually.
Belarus is a landlocked country, so it is unclear what practical steps Putin and Russia could take to secure access to the Baltic Sea. However, Russia has a customs union with Belarus and has a long common border.
NATO’s Baltic members – Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania – are among the most concerned about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
This week, a Ukrainian government spokesman told CNN that Ukrainian intelligence showed “Belarus’ readiness may be directly involved” in the invasion.
So far, however, US officials have not seen “Belarusian troops” ready to cross into Ukraine “or” move or be in Ukraine, “a senior U.S. defense official said Monday, adding that Ukrainian forces were Russian.
The White House on Wednesday detailed a new set of economic measures imposed on Russia and Belarus, condemning Belarus for “allowing Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.”
“I asked you to give me all possible help. This applies to various places, points, structures where our Belarusian friends could fulfill these opportunities. I will not go into details now, you know them, “Putin said in a statement. “They are important not only for Belarus, but also for us, because this is the development of our infrastructure, the increase of freight transport along our coast, for our country. Accordingly, the benefits of Belarus will extend to the Russian economy. We are also interested in this, so please support all these initiatives. “
The province of Russia, Kaliningrad, is located between Poland and Lithuania on the Baltic coast.