In an effort to place even more pressure on the West over Ukraine’s fate, Moscow is exploiting its Belarusian vassal.
According to the New York Times of Jan. 18, “the Biden administration sternly warned the president of Belarus, Aleksandr G. Lukashenko, against allowing Russia to invade Ukraine from his country under the guise of joint military exercises. Mr. Lukashenko, who has an uneasy alliance with Mr. Putin, announced on Monday that exercises would soon start.”
The Belarusian dictator’s announcement “drew sharp suspicion from American officials, who noted that while Belarus has had a longstanding policy of neutrality with its neighbors, it may also be on the cusp of allowing Russian troops and nuclear weapons to be based in its territory, if a constitutional amendment set for a February vote is approved.”
According to the NYT, “a senior State Department official described the activities, taken together, as a sign of future invasion and a threat not only to Ukraine but also to the rest of Europe.
With the U.S. waring that Russia is poised to attack Ukraine, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken is in Kyiv today for emergency talks and will then fly to Berlin. He will meet with Foreign Minister Sergey V. Lavrov of Russia in Geneva on Jan. 21.
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