Russian President Vladimir Putin is visiting Minsk along with his defence and foreign ministers, fanning fears in Kyiv that he intends to pressure Belarus to join a fresh ground offensive.
Thomson ReutersRussian President Vladimir Putin, seen at an unknown location on Dec. 17, visited Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko on Monday.
His trip for talks with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko was his first to Minsk since 2019 — before the COVID-19 pandemic and a wave of pro-democracy protests in 2020 that Lukashenko crushed with strong support from the Kremlin.Russian forces used Belarus as a launch pad for their abortive attack on the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, in February, and there has been Russian and Belarusian military activity there for months.
But Lukashenko, a pariah in the West who relies heavily on Moscow for support, has repeatedly said Belarus will not enter the war in Ukraine. Foreign diplomats say committing Belarusian troops would be deeply unpopular at home.Already, Western sanctions have made it hard for Belarus to ship potash fertilizers, its top export, via Baltic ports.
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