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“I just said that the political and military rapprochement between Belarus and Russia is very worrying,” Landsberg told BNS by phone in Washington.
“Be prepared for a policy of non-recognition if the states are united, bearing in mind that the illegitimate president does not have the authority to sign such treaties.” This should be very clear in the western voice, “he added.
Lithuania’s concerns about the integration of Russia and Belarus have been reinforced by the progress made last week by the country’s leaders, Vladimir Putin and Lukashenko, in integrating the countries’ economies, including the establishment of energy markets and common financials.
After the meeting in Russia, they announced their support for 28 programs to improve integration under the 1999 Alliance Building Agreement. This agreement provides for the creation of a common parliament, a common currency, common state symbols.
However, Putin and Lukashenko did not discuss political integration.
According to G. Landsbergis, the Lithuanian authorities are aware that after the Zapad 2021 exercise, Russian military capabilities may remain on the border between Belarus and Lithuania.
He said he had discussed with Blinken how the United States might respond.
“In my opinion, this worsens the security situation. We discussed the ways in which we could respond to this and balance the security scales, which are now implicitly going in an unfavorable direction,” said the Lithuanian minister.
The United States has been sending rotating battalions consisting of about half a thousand troops to Lithuania since 2019.
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