The alliance between Belarus and Russia, increasingly narrow, brought together in a package of sanctions by the European Union Against the country led by Aleksandr Lukashenko, mainly due to the increasingly relevant role of this last nation in the course of the war in Ukraine.
However, as the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) warned, the United States could be meditating on a reduction in these sanctions, which would pave the way to Russia, that would benefit in economic and even military terms.
As published on Saturday the New York Times, A senior official of the United States Department, Christopher W. Smith, met for the first time with the Belarusian leader after five years, which can translate into an approach between both nations. After this meeting, three beamorous prisoners were released and delivered to the other side of the border.
This release of prisoners, along with other possible future deliveries, could go hand in hand with A reduction in the sanctions imposed on Belarusian banks and the export of potassiumone of the main support of the country. In addition, as the American newspaper collected, the release of prisoners took place just one day after Putin had the meeting with Republican President Donald Trump, which also fueled this idea.
Russia and Belarus: an increasingly narrow relationship
After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Belarus tried to have a more independent role with respect to Russia, approaching the West. However, his “independence” lasted little, because after the annexation of Crimea by Russia, Lukashenko again chose the strategy of following Putin’s footsteps, before the fear of becoming the next objective of the Russian.
Since then, the link between the two nations has been narrowing more and more. In fact, in February 2022, Russia used Lukashenko’s country as a launch platform to commit the large -scale invasion of Ukraine. And later both countries signed a treaty through which security guarantees were given to help repel any aggression.
In addition, the belloruse president, is known for using the same tactics of repression that his Russian counterpartbeing accused of electoral fraud, of silencing the media contrary to him and repressing his opponents.
In fact, this could be Putin’s goal with the invasion of Ukraine: Place a puppet of the president in the power that serves the interests of the Russian and serve as a geopolitical shield against the West, as with Belarus.
