For now, Russia does not plan to supply Belarus with Iskander-M missile systems

Dmitriy Shugaev, Director of the Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation, told Interfax that for the time being, Russia does not plan to supply the Iskander-M operational and tactical missile system to Belarus. "At the moment, there have been no official requests for the acquisition of these systems from Belarus," he said during MILEX – 2017, the 8th International Exhibition of Arms and Military Machinery.

In October 2016, Belarusian Foreign Minister, Vladimir Makei, gave an interview to the Rzeczpospolita Polish newspaper where he stated that Belarus had purchased S-300 anti-aircraft missile systems and several Iskander batteries from Russia.

In mid-2016, the CSTO Secretary General, Nikolai Bordyuzha, said that the organization would deploy its own air defense system and that the complex should be deployed within nine years. According to him, some elements of the future system are already finished and will  be part of the joint regional air defenses of Russia and Belarus, as well as of Russia and Kazakhstan.

From September 14th to September 20th, the Belarus-Russia joint strategic army exercise, West 2017, will be held. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg expressed hope that Russia would notify the alliance of the planned exercise. In response, the Russian Foreign Ministry announced that it was not ready to provide information to NATO. The President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, however, demanded absolute transparency in the upcoming exercise and said he was ready to admit NATO observers to it.

  Belarus, Russia, Iskander-M missiles

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