Russia and Belarus will sign an agreement on mutual security guarantees in the interests of both nations, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov stated today, according to the state news agency RIA.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko is expected to host Russian President Vladimir Putin in a private meeting in Minsk to mark the 25th anniversary of the Union State, a close alliance featuring open borders between the two neighboring former Soviet republics.

“This is an absolutely mutual initiative,” Peskov said, as cited by RIA, referring to the treaty.
“The very logic of events dictates the need for such a document.”

Last month, Putin approved changes lowering the threshold for a nuclear strike in Russia and expanded Moscow’s nuclear umbrella to include Belarus, a key ally.

Nuclear weapons were removed from Belarus after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. However, Putin announced last year that Russia would deploy tactical nuclear missiles there as a deterrent against the West.

Lukashenko, who has ruled Belarus since 1994, stated in October that any use of Russian nuclear weapons now stationed in Belarus would require his personal consent.

Moscow and Minsk regularly conduct joint military drills, and a Russian-led post-Soviet military coalition is expected to hold exercises in Belarus next September.