Alexander Lukashenko's sabre-rattling represents a further potential escalation in the Ukraine war - though his army is unlikely to hand Russia a decisive advantage
Outlining his purported justification for the joint force, Mr Lukashenko said: “Ukraine is not just discussing but planning strikes on the territory of Belarus. We have agreed to deploy a regional grouping of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus.”
The question is the extent to which Mr Lukashenko is likely to follow through on his threats by formally opening hostilities and placing Belarusian troops on Ukrainian soil. But with an army of 60,000, much of it reliant on outmoded Soviet-era equipment and a combat-ready force that is just a fraction of that total, it is unlikely that Belarus could hand its Russian sponsor a decisive advantage in a fresh incursion onto Ukrainian territory.
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