MOSCOW. March 22 (Interfax-AVN) - Belarus may charge Russia for stationing of the Union's military infrastructure on its territory, a prominent Russian military expert said on Monday.
"If a mutually acceptable solution concerning payment for the Russian gas is not found, Minsk will have nothing left to do but to charge Russia for using military infrastructure on the Belarussian territory," Colonel General Leonid Ivashov, vice president of the Academy of Geopolitical Problems, told Interfax- Military News Agency.
Ivashov, who earlier headed the Defense Ministry's international military cooperation directorate, noted that Russia has two strategic facilities in Belarus, these being the radar in Baranovichi and the submarine control center in Vileika.
"In addition, we have to admit that Belarus covers Russia's air and ground space from the west. This is especially important at the moment when NATO warplanes are stationed in the Baltic countries, airspace of these countries are patrolled by the alliance's AWACS planes and fighters, and Ukraine's Verkhovna Rada (parliament - Interfax-AVN) voted for providing the country's territory for NATO troops," Ivashov said.
"It is extremely important for both Moscow and Minsk to look at the problem of our relations, not sitting on the gas pipeline, but rather proceeding from geopolitical and geostrategic interests. Otherwise, both Russia and Belarus will suffer a crushing defeat in relations with the European Union and NATO," the expert noted.
According to him, "escalation of the conflict will result in Belarus taken in the NATO orbit over just a few years, and the Kaliningrad grouping (of Russian troops - Interfax-AVN) finding itself surrounded by NATO. At the same time, Russia will face the alliance near Smolensk."