Russia will start deploying tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus after special storage facilities are ready on July 7-8, President Vladimir Putin said on Friday, Moscow’s first move of such bombs outside Russia since the fall of the Soviet Union. More than 15 months into the biggest land war in Europe since World War Two, Putin … Read more
The top opposition candidate in Belarus’ presidential election Svetlana Tsikhanouskaya. File | Photo Credit: AP A court in Belarus on March 6 sentenced exiled opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya to 15 years in prison after a trial in absentia on charges including conspiring to overthrow the government. Ms. Tsikhanouskaya and four other Opposition figures are being … Read more
Hong Kong CNN — Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko – a close ally of Vladimir Putin – vowed to deepen defense and security ties and expressed shared views on the war in Ukraine during a Wednesday meeting in Beijing, as geopolitical tensions around Russia’s war continue to rise. Lukashenko endorsed China’s … Read more
Russian President Vladimir Putin shakes hands with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko. File | Photo Credit: Reuters Alexander Lukashenko, the President of Belarus and a close ally of the Russian leader, will visit Beijing this week, China’s Foreign Ministry said, as U.S. concerns grow that China is considering providing military aid to Russia. Spokesperson Hua Chunying … Read more
CNN — Human rights groups from Russia and Ukraine – Memorial and the Center for Civil Liberties – have won the Nobel Peace Prize for 2022, along with the jailed Belarusian advocate Ales Bialiatski. The new laureates were honored for “an outstanding effort to document war crimes, human right abuses and the abuse of power” … Read more
Thousands of men, women and children seeking asylum are trapped in freezing conditions between hostile forces in the borderlands that separate Belarus from Poland and the European Union. They have come mainly from the Middle East, fleeing poverty and conflict in places such as Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq. But rather than being welcomed they face … Read more
The European Union agreed Monday to impose targeted sanctions against Russian officials and entities allegedly involved in the poisoning of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny but officials insisted the move should not undercut Europe’s continued high-level contacts with President Vladimir Putin. Foreign ministers meeting in Luxembourg backed a Franco-German proposal to impose a travel ban … Read more
The U.S. and European Union imposed sanctions against Belarus officials on Friday, part of a coordinated effort by Western allies to censure the authoritarian regime over accusations of political repression and rigging elections. The EU reached an early morning deal to advance a sanctions package against more than three dozen Belarusian individuals deemed responsible for … Read more
LONDON—The U.K. and Canada imposed sanctions on Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko and senior figures in his government, a sign of widening discontent in the West over ongoing repression of peaceful protests against his purported victory in a disputed election. British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab accused Mr. Lukashenko and his allies of multiple human-rights violations in … Read more
Russia’s tightening embrace of embattled Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko is raising concerns at NATO that the balance of military power in the alliance’s weak northeast corner could tip further in the Kremlin’s favor. Western capitals have lambasted Mr. Lukashenko, who has ruled Belarus for 26 years, for declaring himself the winner of a disputed election … Read more