OP-ED

Brian Whitmore: Putin’s Belarus strategy — arsonist and firefighter?

By Brian Whitmore.

Published June 3, 2021 at 12:44 am

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarusian strongman Alexander Lukashenko pose on a boat during a boat trip on the Black Sea 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. (AFP)

Photo by AFP

Vladimir Putin has a proven skill for surreptitiously playing the arsonist and then offering his services as a firefighter. In Ukraine, he started a war in the Donbas and then managed to get Russia recognized as a mediator in a conflict where it was both instigator and combatant.