The country borders Ukraine and three members of the EU and NATO

Russia already has a radar and a navy communications facility in Belarus

But former Soviet republic is dependent on Moscow for credit and energy

Belarus has made it clear it would not welcome a Russian

Vladimir Putin has backed plans to establish a Russian military air base in neighbouring Belarus in a move that will unnerve Poland and the Baltic nations.

Belarus has made clear it would not welcome a Russian base, but the former Soviet republic remains dependent on Moscow for credit and energy.

The Russian President ordered his Defence Ministry to hold talks with their Belarusian counterparts and sign the agreement.

Vladimir Putin has signalled his intention to establish a Russian military air base in neighbouring Belarus in a move that will unnerve Poland and the Baltic nations

The Russian President ordered his Defence Ministry to hold talks with their Belarusian counterparts and sign the agreement. Russian servicemen are pictured marching in Moscow last year

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has not commented on Putin's initiative. The two presidents met on Friday in the southern Russian city of Sochi.

Russia has radar and a navy communications facility in Belarus, but this would be the first base.

Belarus is a desirable location for Russia because it borders Ukraine and three members of the European Union and NATO: Lithuania, Latvia and Poland.

The idea of setting up an airbase in the ex-Soviet republic was revealed by Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu in 2013, and follows a 2009 agreement under which Russia and Belarus agreed to defend their common external frontier and airspace.

Russia has radar and a navy communications facility in Belarus, but this would be the first military air base (file picture)

Belarus is a desirable location for Russia because it borders Ukraine and three members of the European Union and NATO: Lithuania, Latvia and Poland as shown in the graphic

Russian defence officials have said the base would be used to station Su-27 fighters. Russia already has some fighter aircraft in Belarus but this would be the first full-scale base there since Soviet times.

Russia already has military bases in ex-Soviet neighbours Kyrgyzstan and Armenia, which like Belarus are also members of a Eurasian Economic Union that Putin sees as the embryo of a new geopolitical bloc.

'Against the background of the Ukrainian crisis, the stationing of a permanent Russian military contingent in Belarus will upset the balance of forces and facilitate an increase in tension in the whole region,' said analyst Valery Karbalevich.

As part of an effort to improve Belarus' relations with the West, Lukashenko has stayed neutral on the conflict in Ukraine between the Western-aligned government in Kiev and the Russia-backed separatists in the east.

'It is obvious that the Kremlin really twisted Lukashenko's arm,' Karbalevich said.