Putin's CSTO: a choice between cowardice, shame and crime

Russia's official "allies" have refused to support the Führer from the Kremlin in the war against

By openly attacking Ukraine, the Kremlin has put its "allies" in the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) in a difficult position. Even Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko, who is completely dependent on Moscow, has balanced, not wanting to send his troops to Ukraine, but it seems he will still be forced to submit to the will of his Kremlin master and send his army to ruin. But other Russian partners - Yerevan, Bishkek, Nursultan and Dushanbe - are in no hurry to become complicit in war crimes. They declare neutrality or "loudly" remain silent so as not to spoil relations with Kiev and the West. The CSTO, which Russian militarists have positioned as "Russian NATO", has proven to be a suitcase without a handle that the Kremlin is forced to carry.

Ukrainian trap for Lukashenko

The most unpleasant situation is that of the dictator from Minsk, Alexander Lukashenko, who, together with the leader of the Kremlin, Vladimir Putin, is building a kind of "union state". Under the guise of the "Union's determination" exercise, Minsk provided the Kremlin with a bridgehead on its territory to attack the northern regions of Ukraine.

Judging by his nervous behavior, Lukashenko initially expected that Russian troops would "occupy" Ukraine in a few days, a puppet government would be formed instead of a legitimate government, and the West would simply not have time to react.

Fierce resistance from the Ukrainian army and society stifled the dreams of the Kremlin and its satellite from Minsk. So in the last three weeks, Alexander Lukashenko has only been trying to somehow get rid of any military obligations.

In public, he shows sympathy for Moscow, swears by empty threats to Ukraine and NATO, but in fact, until the last moment, he blocked any option for the participation of the Belarusian army in the fighting in Ukraine.

Even Russian provocation by shelling Belarusian villages near the Ukrainian border could not affect the position of the Belarusian president. Minsk simply pretended that nothing had happened.

"Lukashenko fears literally everything related to the war against Ukraine, which is extremely unpopular among the people of Belarus. Seeing the failure of the Kremlin blitzkrieg, Lukashenko fears the consequences: the loss of the Ukrainian market, the risk of greater Kremlin interference in the country's internal affairs. to wage war with Ukraine, "said Ihar Tishkevich, a foreign policy expert at the Ukrainian Institute for the Future, in an interview with Apostrophe.

However, information about the departure of the Belarusian embassy from Kiev shows that Lukashenko is still preparing to get directly involved in the Russian aggression. All 11 employees of the Belarusian embassy left Ukraine. It also became known that the Belarusian army began to use the same system of rapid recognition (red tape), which was used by Russian forces in the first days of the invasion of Ukraine. The railway connection between Belarus and Ukraine has also stopped.

"If the Russians still overtake the Belarusians, in the coming hours Belarus will not only give its territory for hostilities against Ukraine, but will enter the war and their armed forces will enter the territory of Ukraine." I believe that the algorithm of Ukraine's actions should be somewhat different than in the situation with Russia - to declare a formal war on Belarus with a clear goal - to defend its own territory and change the regime in Belarus. This will enable a significant part of the Belarusian society to be attracted, "said MP Bogdan Yaremenko.

Lukashenko risks losing not only the army in the coming days, but also power.

Mega cautious "allies" of the Kremlin.

In addition to Belarus, which was actually occupied by the Russians, the CSTO includes Armenia, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Tajikistan. Their governments are apparently reluctant to participate in the promotion of the "Russian world" in Ukraine by shelling housing estates, hospitals and maternity hospitals.

Kazakh authorities, who were recently helped by Moscow by sending its "peacekeepers", have declared neutrality, refusing to support aggression against Ukraine, but do not condemn it.

The Kyrgyz leadership is pretending that nothing is happening. Official Bishkek has not yet commented on the Russian attack on Ukraine and the recognition of the LDNR by Moscow.

Tajik authorities have taken a similarly silent stance. Earlier this month, Kazakh opposition officials said that the Kremlin had added Central Asian leaders, forcing them to share military equipment, ammunition and a "limited contingent" of troops. For now, this information turned out to be just a rumor.

The Armenian authorities are also silent, which Vladimir Putin banally "rejected" during the recent war with Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh. Yerevan provides passive diplomatic assistance to Moscow, trying not to criticize Ukraine and the West. There is no talk of "recognizing" self-proclaimed "republics".

The Russian command is trying to build reserves by withdrawing its "peacekeeping forces" from the CSTO. The Russian command records a large number of dead and wounded in Ukraine. "Emanuel Macron, the prospects for Yerevan's involvement in the war against Ukraine have become even more unclear," political expert Yuri Romanenko told Apostrophe.

CSTO - Kremlin suitcase without handle

The only ones supporting the Kremlin are puppet regimes in Abkhazia and South Ossetia and Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, who has decided to send militants to Ukraine.

Moscow is supported only by illegal regimes and open bandits who owe something to Russia. CSTO member states, which the Kremlin's "strategists" have positioned as "our response to NATO", are wary of the actions of the confused Russian president.

The Kremlin will increase the pressure on other CSTO member states, otherwise why such "allies"? The question is how much Yerevan or Bishkek want to personally participate in that.

It is obvious that the "allies" of the Kremlin will resist to the last, using every reason for sabotage. The offensive of Russian troops has been suppressed on all sides. It is extremely risky to wage war on the side of Russia in such conditions. It is questionable whether other CSTO members, along with Kremlin bosses, want to suffer human, financial and economic losses in a war they have nothing to do with.