Tag: Lukashenka

Belarus “Balances” Between EU and Russia and Seeks European Understanding, Foreign Minister Says

April 29, 2014

Staunton, April 29 – Vladimir Makey, the Belarusian foreign minister, continued to distance Minsk from Moscow by saying that his country seeks a “balance” between Europe and Russia, a statement to a Prague paper that underscores the concerns of Belarus about its own fate in the wake of Moscow’s Crimean Anschluss and Minsk’s new efforts […]

Even Lukashenka is Worried About What Putin May Do

April 22, 2014

Staunton, April 22 – It is a measure of just how worried the leaders of countries bordering Russia are about the possibility that Vladimir Putin will build on his Crimean Anschluss by moving against their states that even Alyaksandr Lukashenka feels the need to deny that Minsk is oppressing ethnic Russians and to call on […]

Is Federalization Now Putin’s Strategy for Undermining All of Russia’s Neighbors?

April 14, 2014

Staunton, April 13 – The vehemence of Belarusian leader Alyaksandr Lukashenka’s opposition to Moscow’s proposal for the federalization of Ukraine suggests that this Russian demand may not be an ad hoc position reflecting uniquely Ukrainian situation but part of a broader strategy to break and ultimately re-subordinate neighboring countries. Not only would such an approach […]

Putin’s Crimean Move Won’t Lead to Unification of Belarus and Russia, Experts Say

April 3, 2014

Staunton, April 3 – In the wake of Crimea, Moscow is likely to increase pressure on Belarus to cooperate, but experts say there is little chance that the two countries will unite any time soon. Instead, Putin’s Crimean Anschluss is likely to make Belarus and other former Soviet republics even more leery than they already […]

Lukashenka Takes Hard Line against Federalization of Ukraine

March 25, 2014

Staunton, March 25 – Alyaksandr Lukashenka, the Belarusian dictator and Vladimir Putin’s closest ally on the post-Soviet space, concedes that Crimea “de facto” is part of Russia but is taking a hard line against the Kremlin leader’s demands that Ukraine be federalized. Such a step, Lukashenka says, could be extremely dangerous. “Ukraine,” the Minsk leader […]