UKRAINE: THE SITUATION 332 - 19th JANUARY 2023

Senior Kremlin officials continue to hold meetings with the Belarusian leadership – an activity that could create the conditions for a Russian attack on Ukraine from Belarus, although not necessarily and not in the coming weeks.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Belarusian Defense Minister Viktor Khrenin discussed unspecified topics of bilateral military cooperation, the implementation of unspecified strategic deterrence measures, and "progress in preparing" the joint Russian-Belarusian regional grouping of troops (RGV) in a phone conversation on January 19. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko in Minsk on January 19 to discuss an unspecified Russian-Belarusian "joint vision" for Russia's war in Ukraine. Lavrov and Belarusian Foreign Minister Sergei Aleinik discussed how Russia and Belarus can defeat the ongoing Western hybrid war against states, and signed an unspecified memorandum of cooperation to "ensure biological security." This memorandum could be a hint at intensifying an existing Russian information operation falsely accusing Ukraine of developing chemical and biochemical weapons in allegedly US-funded biolabs in Ukraine, which was part of the Kremlin's pretext for the invasion in February 2022.

The complete Russian Offensive Update 332 is available directly from UNDERSTANDING WAR.

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