By Brian Whitmore
Alyaksandr Lukashenka just may be Vladimir Putin’s last remaining ally in the former Soviet space.
At a May 16 summit meeting in Moscow to mark the twentieth anniversary of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), the Belarusian autocrat was the only leader to call on the military bloc to unite its forces in defense of Russia and against the West.
“Without a united front, the collective West will build up pressure on the post-Soviet space,” Lukashenka said in a speech to leaders of the Russian-dominated alliance that also includes Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.
But apparently there were no takers. Other than Putin and Lukashenka, no other leaders raised the war in Ukraine during their public remarks. According to a report in Meduza, the conflict was discussed behind closed doors but a joint statement issued after the summit did not mention Ukraine at all, nor did it refer to Russia’s so-called “special military operation” there.
CSTO Secretary General Stanislav Zas told reporters that the prospect of deploying troops from alliance members to Ukraine was not discussed. Kazakhstan, which has the second largest military in the bloc after Russia, has repeatedly ruled out sending CSTO troops to Ukraine. Kazakhstan has also refused to help Russia evade Western sanctions imposed in response to Putin’s invasion.