The United States continues to support Belarus' adherence to arms control agreements and treaties to which it has previously entered. Added to this list is Belarus' recent ratification of the Open Skies Treaty. Cooperation in all such agreements has been exemplary.

The primary engagement between the U.S. military and Belarus continues to be in the humanitarian assistance arena. Completion of the renovation of the Gomel Regional Blood Transfusion Center in July 2002 with a project cost of $475,000 marked the high point of this assistance. On January 29, 2003, the United States signed a contract to donate $190,000 for continued renovation of the Gomel Oblast Emergency Hospital, which houses the blood transfusion center. This program, coupled with continuous flow of Humanitarian Excess Property (HEP-EP) form EUCOM Cold War stocks into the Republic, will continue to define the HA program.

Direct military to military cooperation continues to be minimal. Belarus currently has no IMET program, and bilateral exercises and cooperation are nonexistent. There is a great desire on the Belarusian side to re-establish such cooperation and contacts but it has not been possible due to the political situation. The only program that is still functional within this category is the attendance of Belarusian Military Officers in George C. Marshall Center programs.

Potential areas of cooperation can be seen in the area of mine disposal, demining and small arms destruction. Belarus possesses an unstable inventory of about 3.5 million anti-personnel mines, which require proper disposal. Officials have been working with foreign governments to acquire financial and technical support for these efforts but have met with little tangible success. In addition to this there are numerous World War II vintage minefields which are still in place and killing or injuring several Belarusians every year. The Belarusian Government would quickly accept assistance in either of these areas.

The new Minister of Defense is experiencing success in the area of military reform. Planned changes include combining the Air and Air defense Forces, downsizing the force structure about 30% from 83,000 to 60,000, transitioning from a conscript to a contract force, and modernizing the command and control structure by creating a Ground Forces Command between the Ministry of Defense and the units in the field. Implementation of these reforms will take an unspecified amount of time.

The area of greatest concern continues to be the link between the Belarusian MOD, the sale of arms, equipment services to, and the training of personnel from States of Concern. Included in this category (but not limited to) are the sales of weapons to Libya and Syria, along with reported weapons transfers, upgrades of Iraqi equipment (S-300 system) and air defense training of Iraqi service members.