Vladimir Putin wants to draw Belarus even deeper into the Ukraine war

Berlin For the first time since the invasion of Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin has visited his closest ally, the Belarusian ruler Alexander Lukashenko, in Minsk and discussed further cooperation with him. As was customary in many parts of the former Soviet Union, the Belarusian dictator greeted his fellow autocrats with bread and salt at Minsk airport.

Putin said on Belarusian state television that Minsk is Russia’s “ally in every sense of the word”. Russia and Belarus form a common union state. In Minsk there is concern that Moscow wants to take over its smaller neighbor – at least the 45,000 active Belarusian soldiers and another 290,000 reservists.