OP-ED

Brian Whitmore: Putin and Lukashenko are locked in a dysfunctional axis of autocrats

By Brian Whitmore.

Published July 15, 2021. Updated July 15 at 4:12 am

Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko (L) and his son Nikolay (C) on a boat during trip on the Black Sea with his Belarusian counterpart on May 29, 2021, as the close allies met for a second day for informal talks amidst the outcry after Minsk diverted a European plane.

Photo by AFP

Europe’s last two dictators again performed their perennial theater of solidarity this week when Alyaksandr Lukashenka travelled to St. Petersburg to meet Vladimir Putin. It was Lukashenka’s fourth trip to meet Putin in Russia so far this year, and the script was as well worn as it was predictable and empty.