How Lukashenko Became a Bone in Putin’s Throat
Belarus’s deepening political isolation makes it easier but also more expensive for Moscow to control Lukashenko. Kremlin.ru
The only the thing the public has been told about the recent five-hour meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko is that Putin invited his guest to go swimming and that Lukashenko promised to show his host some documents he carried in his grandfather’s phoney carpet bag.
The whole thing was a photo op for voters of the same retirement age in both “fraternal” countries. It was an attempt to impress them with the two leaders braving the elements, with five hours of supposedly fruitful talks and a carpet bag from which Lukashenko could magically retrieve documents revealing “the true situation” the same way Marry Poppins could fantastically pull floor lamps and furnishings from hers.
Putin's New Game against Lukashenka: What the Kremlin Is Changing charter97.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from charter97.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Andrey Fedorov, Belorusskie Novosti
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It is possible that the style of the new representative of the Russian Federation will be closer to the style of Mikhail Babich.
It seems that the main task of the now de facto former Russian ambassador to Belarus,
Dmitry Mezentsev, was to hide Moscow s true intentions with soothing conversations. In the current situation, his successor may be instructed to take a tougher position.
The recent meeting between Putin and Lukashenka in Sochi prompted many comments. However, since official information about its content turned out to be very scarce, their authors were forced to be content with fragmentary information and could, in fact, only speculate about the outcome of the negotiations.
The decision has been sent to Putin for approval.
The State Duma Committee on CIS Affairs, Eurasian Integration and Relations with Compatriots approved on Wednesday the candidacy of
Yevgeny Lukyanov for the post of Russian ambassador to Belarus, Interfax reported.
Lukyanov will replace
Dmitry Mezentsev. For the past four years he headed the Russian diplomatic mission in Latvia.
This is the third time in the last three years that Moscow has replaced its ambassador in Minsk. Mezentsev was appointed ambassador in April 2019. Then he replaced
Mikhail Babich, who had represented Russia in Belarus since August 2018.
The State Duma Committee on CIS Affairs participates in consultations on nominating and recalling diplomatic representatives in foreign countries and international organizations by the Russian president. Proposals for candidates are documented by a decision of the Russian Foreign Ministry or other ministry and are submitted together with documents characterizing each
Lead:
The Busel (White stork) portal poses as a Belarusian website but is owned by a pro-Putin organization.
A few months ago a new Internet media outlet appeared in Belarus - the Busel.Online website. The portal publishes small investigations of the Belarusian economy, smuggling schemes and the political situation. The text authors are unknown: the materials are not signed, there is no information about the editorial board.
Telegram channel Belorusskiy poryadok (Belarusian Order) discovered a connection between the Busel and an organization from Russia as well as, possibly, Russian oligarch
Dmitry Mazepin. Euroradio tried to find out if this was the case.