Proposals had been made to change Russia's nuclear doctrine to allow for attacking any non-nuclear state that had the participation or support of a nuclear state, Putin said.
Putin also mentioned an attack on Belarus explicitly, so maybe they’re expecting something there too?
I don't think there is something explicit, but Poland and Baltic yapping dogs of empire actively try to coup Belarus for decade now and i read some crackpots saying NATO could do "an SMO in Belarus that totally wouldn't be war, isn't it" and using one of the myriad NATO maneuvers in the region to cook up some provocation.
So even if there's nothing but talk, Belarus is still percieved as next area of proxy conflict and Putin wants to cut that out by saying attack on Belarus is attack on Russia. He also getting points for that in Belarus which finally got disillusioned about cooperation with west few years ago.
The west has been trying to turn Belarus into another Ukraine for a while now, and that's ultimately what pushed Belarus join Russia. It's rather amusing how self defeating western maximalist policies are. It's like a Greek tragedy where the protagonist's actions in fighting against prophecy lead to it being fulfilled. If the west just allowed Ukraine and Belarus stay neutral, then they likely would've fallen into western orbit over time. By forcing the issue the west destroyed Ukraine and pushed Belarus firmly into Russian orbit.
I don't think there is something explicit, but Poland and Baltic yapping dogs of empire actively try to coup Belarus for decade now and i read some crackpots saying NATO could do "an SMO in Belarus that totally wouldn't be war, isn't it" and using one of the myriad NATO maneuvers in the region to cook up some provocation.
So even if there's nothing but talk, Belarus is still percieved as next area of proxy conflict and Putin wants to cut that out by saying attack on Belarus is attack on Russia. He also getting points for that in Belarus which finally got disillusioned about cooperation with west few years ago.
The west has been trying to turn Belarus into another Ukraine for a while now, and that's ultimately what pushed Belarus join Russia. It's rather amusing how self defeating western maximalist policies are. It's like a Greek tragedy where the protagonist's actions in fighting against prophecy lead to it being fulfilled. If the west just allowed Ukraine and Belarus stay neutral, then they likely would've fallen into western orbit over time. By forcing the issue the west destroyed Ukraine and pushed Belarus firmly into Russian orbit.