Russia's Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu held talks his Belarusian counterpart Viktor Khrenin on Saturday "and signed amendments to the Agreement on the Joint Provision of Regional Security in the Military Sphere," the US-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said in its latest analysis of Russia's military campaign in Ukraine.
It noted that Shoigu also met with Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko, who "stated that Belarusian and Russian forces continue to train together on Belarusian territory so that the Union State can repel any aggression."
Shoigu apparently met with Khrenin and Lukashenko "in an attempt to place pressure on Belarus to further support Russia’s offensive campaign in Ukraine," according to the ISW.
The think tank has previously assessed that Belarus "is highly unlikely to enter the war in Ukraine due to domestic factors that constrain Lukashenko’s willingness to do so."
The Institute for the Study of War predicted that the pace of military operations in Ukraine would increase in the coming weeks "as consistent cold weather allows the ground to freeze throughout the theater, especially in eastern Ukraine where operations on both sides have been bogged down by heavy mud."
Sunday is day 284 of Russia's war in Ukraine.
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Source: PAP, understandingwar.org