OREANDA-NEWS. November 23, 2010. President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko has approved the plan for deploying the regional military taskforce of Belarus and Russia, State Secretary of the Security Council of Belarus Leonid Maltsev said.

The plan has been discussed and approved, no remarks have been made, said Leonid Maltsev. As the Chairman of the Supreme State Council of the Union State Alexander Lukashenko made the decision that the plan should be approved at a session of the Supreme State Council of the Union State.

According to Leonid Maltsev, the approval will be put on the agenda of a session of the Supreme State Council of the Union State. “The document is very important. It has been decided that it is inadvisable to sign it without discussing it within the framework of the Supreme State Council of the Union State,” he said. Asked about the statement that President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko made earlier that day that Russia should support Belarus in ensuring the security of the Union State, Leonid Maltsev said: “The deployment plan includes not only tactics, but also a system of measures for the comprehensive support of the taskforce, including provision of armaments”. He said that if it is a common taskforce, then Russia should take part in equipping the taskforce with armaments.

The official said that these matters will be discussed when the Supreme State Council of the Union State discusses the military taskforce deployment plan.

Leonid Maltsev believes that the Supreme State Council should also discuss in what ways Russia should take part in supporting the regional military taskforce. “It is wrong to assume that nothing else will be done apart from the approval of the plan. The taskforce needs armaments, ammunition, fuel and so on. Ways to provide wise, comprehensive and just support for the taskforce have been discussed. Nobody is going to shrug off responsibility or put burden on anyone”.