MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Russian President Vladimir Putin gave the go-ahead for a contract that will green-light the establishment of a Russian air base in Belarus in September.
"We will discuss this issue with the president of Russia," Lukashenko told reporters in Minsk answering the question about the prospects of a new Russian military facility in Belarus.
19 September 2015, 08:27 GMT
In September, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said that Russia was ready to set up airbases on the territory of all its allies in the framework the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO).
The CSTO is an intergovernmental military alliance formed in 1992 with six members at present: Russia, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Armenia and Belarus, as well as two observer states – Afghanistan and Serbia.
Russia currently has airbases in Kyrgyzstan and Armenia, and is planning to establish an airbase for fighter jets in eastern Belarus in 2016.
