Today, President of Belarus Alexandru Lukashenko met Vladimir Putin, his close ally. Lukashenko has a long and troubled history of violence, lies, disputed elections, and other crimes.
Today, Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, met with his Belarusian ally and leader Alex Lukashenko.
Putin stated that there had been ‘positive shifts in the talks between Russia, Ukraine’ two weeks after Moscow invaded Ukraine.
During the address alongside the Belarusian leader, he stated: “There are certain positive shifts, negotiators from our side reported to me.”
The president of Belarus relies heavily upon his Russian friend in a turbulent region marked by political unrest.
Belarus, which lies near the Ukraine’s northern border, is being used to launch Russian troops.
Putin finds it attractive because of its proximity to Ukraine. He views Soviet Union’s former areas as culturally Russian, and this is why he ordered the invasion.
Before Putin started the crisis – where thousands of soldiers and hundreds more civilians were killed by indiscriminate strikes on populated areas – Lukashenko was called Europe’s last dictator.
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Alexandr Lukashenko: Who are you?
While Alexandr Lukashenko was once a hero in his country’s history, he is now considered to be a dictator. Since 1994, he is president of Belarus.
He was elected to the Belarusian parliament in 1990. However, he created the faction known as “Communists for Democracy”. However, he opposed the Soviet Union dissolution agreement.
In the years that followed his election as president, he began to remove all controls and transform what was supposed being a new democracy along the border between east-west into one of the most oppressive regimes within Europe.
Massive protests broke out across the country in 2020 after Lukashenko won a disputed election.
Protests to support opposition leader Sviatlana TSikhanouskaya were met with violent crackdowns and brutal beatings.
For opposing the dictator’s brutal regime, activists and free press are being targeted.
After the elections, his address to Minsk’s truck factory was ” “As long as you don’t kill me, new elections won’t happen.”
Why are Russia, Belarus and Belarus allies?
Being close to Russia allows Alexandr Lukashenko, a Russian ally, to remain in power despite the West’s flagging of his track record for human rights violations as well as the 2020 election results.
Putin can also store nuclear weapons in the neighboring state through this alliance.
The UK condemned Lukashenko’s actions and imposed sanctions against the country. He suggested that the UK should ‘choke on’ them.
“You are America’s lapdogs,”He added.
A spokesperson for Downing Street stated that in 2021: “The Prime Minister welcomed the leader of the Belarusian opposition, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, to Downing Street today.
“He condemned the Lukashenko regime’s severe human rights violations and persecution of pro-democracy figures, including both Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya and her husband.”
Belarus and Russia have a close alliance, but an uneasy one. Putin is still believed to view Belarus as Russian and if the government in the country was not so heavily pro-Russian, it is believed likely that Putin would have turned his troops towards Belarus in the same way he is now destroying Ukraine.
