Moscow, May 16, (dpa/GNA) - Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko has called for the strengthening of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), a Russia-led military alliance, as a counterweight to NATO, which looks likely to accept Sweden and Finland as new members.
“The CSTO must massively consolidate its status in the international system of control and separation of powers,” Lukashenko said at a meeting of the alliance in Moscow on Monday, according to Belarusian news agency Belta.
Russia cannot fight NATO enlargement alone, he added.
Lukashenko often referred to as “Europe’s last dictator,” justified the Russian invasion of Ukraine by citing NATO’s activities in the country and its troop build-up in Eastern Europe.
In addition to Russia and Belarus, the CSTO also includes the former Soviet republics of Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, though no CSTO member has contributed troops to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
However, as the invasion was launched partly from Belarusian territory, the West sanctioned Minsk as well as Moscow. On Sunday the Belarusian government estimated the cost of sanctions to Belarus at between $16 billion and $18 billion.
GNA