Putin insists on creating a Russian airbase in Belarus

Vladimir Putin charged the Defense Ministry with holding talks with Belarus about the formation of a Russian airbase at the territory of a neighbor state.

On September 19 Russian President Vladimir Putin issued a statement where he announced that he had agreed to a government proposal to sign a deal for the military air base and had ordered defense and Foreign Ministry officials to start talks on the issue with Belarus.

The plan is not expected to face major obstacles, RFE/RL informs.

Let us recall that Russia already has two military facilities in Belarus -- a radar station and a submarine communications center.

It also has some fighter aircraft in Belarus, but the plan would establish the first full-scale base there since Soviet times.

Analysts say the move also could signal the Kremlin's interest in keeping unpredictable Belarus within Moscow's geopolitical orbit.