Belarus

Armenia has declared its intention to withdraw from the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), a defense alliance formed in 1992 among former Soviet republics with Russia at its core. The CSTO currently comprises Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Armenia.

Russian President Vladimir Putin held a meeting on Tuesday with Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and expressed Moscow's full support for Türkiye's interest in joining the BRICS bloc.

"We welcome Türkiye's interest in the work of BRICS," Putin told Fidan during the closed-door talks on June 11, after Fidan attended the BRICS+ foreign ministers meeting.

Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan met with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, on June 11 during his visit to Russia to attend a session of the BRICS group of emerging economies.

The discussions between the two officials covered bilateral and regional relations, with a particular focus on the latest situation in Gaza, Turkish diplomatic sources said.

Belarus announced today that its military is participating in the second phase of Russian exercises scheduled by President Vladimir Putin to practice the deployment of tactical nuclear weapons, Reuters reported.

Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan will embark on a two-day visit to Russia on June 10 to participate in a gathering of counterparts from the BRICS group of emerging economies, according to Turkish diplomatic sources.

Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has threatened Poland with the prospect of "radioactive ash" in response to comments by Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski about the use of nuclear weapons. Sikorski had suggested to the British newspaper "Guardian" how the United States might react if Russia used nuclear weapons against Ukraine.

As Russia commemorated Victory Day, President Vladimir Putin presided over the annual military parade on Red Square in Moscow. The event, marking the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany in World War II, saw participation from leaders of several countries, including Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Cuba, Guinea-Bissau, and Laos.

Following Russia's announcement of an upcoming military exercise involving tactical nuclear weapons, President Vladimir Putin asserted that there was nothing out of the ordinary about the drills. Speaking after the Victory Day parade, Putin addressed concerns raised by the exercise, emphasizing that everything was meticulously planned.

"Belarus is a crucial element for Putin but also his weakest link," argues the exiled politician and leader of the Belarusian opposition Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya in a Kathimerini interview.

The explosion at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant led to a radioactive cloud over large parts of the former Soviet Union, now the territories of Belarus, Ukraine & Russia