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Michael Weiss and Holger Roonemaa Mon, February 20, 2023 at 5:00 PM CST A leaked internal strategy document from Vladimir Putin’s executive office and obtained by Yahoo News lays out a detailed plan on how Russia plans to take full control over neighboring Belarus in the next decade under the pretext of a merger between the two countries. The document outlines in granular detail a creeping annexation by political, economic and military means of an independent but illiberal European nation by Russia, which is an active state of war in its bid to conquer Ukraine through overwhelming force. “Russia’s goals...

On Friday, the president of the aggressor country Vladimir Putin will meet with illegitimate President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko at the Novo-Ogaryovo residence near Moscow, and the conversation will be profound in nature. Source: Russian state-owned news outlet RIA Novosti and BelTA, Belarusian state-run news agency Quote from Dmitry Peskov, Press Secretary of Russian President: "As for the preparations for the meeting between the two presidents, Putin and Lukashenko, tomorrow – yes, I can confirm that such a meeting is being prepared." Details: Peskov states that the meeting will take place in Novo-Ogaryovo, and "the conversation will be thorough." Lukashenko...

Belarus on Friday condemned as "catastrophic" a decision by Poland to close a border checkpoint between the two countries, saying it could lead to a collapse on both sides of the border. Poland said on Thursday, citing security concerns, it would close a key border crossing into Belarus at Bobrowniki, starting at 12 p.m. (1100 GMT) on Friday, driving already hostile relations between the two countries to a new low. -snip- Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said that Poland might close further border crossings. "We are not excluding closing other border crossings with Belarus," he told a news conference in...

Jack Posobiec 🇺🇸 @JackPosobiec BREAKING: “We are at the brink of World War 3 in Ukraine. And we need a peace deal right now. I would have a peace deal within 24 hours”

The Kremlin dismissed the idea that President Vladimir Putin was travelling to Belarus on Monday in order to push Minsk to take a more active role in the conflict in Ukraine, the RIA Novosti news agency reported. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said such reports were "groundless" and "stupid".

Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit Belarus on Monday for talks with his counterpart and ally Alexander Lukashenko, the Belarus leader’s office said. The Belarus presidency said Friday the pair will hold discussions at the Independence Palace, Lukashenko’s office, in Minsk during Putin’s “working visit”. -snip- Minsk said the pair will hold one-on-one talks as well as wider negotiations with their ministers on “Belarusian-Russian integration”.

Maria Kolesnikova has been moved to an intensive care unit, former presidential candidate Babariko's Telegram account has announced. She was arrested in 2020 after leading protests against Alexander Lukashenko. Leading Belarusian opposition figure Maria Kolesnikova has been transferred to the intensive care unit of a hospital in the southeastern city of Gomel, jailed opposition politician Viktor Babariko's Telegram account said on Tuesday. The account added that Kolesnikova's lawyer confirmed her hospitalization on Monday. She was first admitted into the surgical ward before being transferred to the intensive care unit. A leading Belarus opposition figure, Kolesnikova has been held behind bars...

A sombre Alexander Lukashenko bade farewell at the open-topped coffin of his long-serving foreign minister today as speculation continues to churn over whether the diplomat may have been assassinated. The Belarusian president has reportedly ordered toxicology tests after Vladimir Makei died suddenly at the weekend. -snip- Makei's funeral was held in Minsk this morning amid as yet unverified claims the veteran diplomat and former spy, 64, was killed in a Moscow sting operation due to his clandestine contacts with the West concerning the war in Ukraine and efforts to prevent Belarus being incorporated into Russia by Vladimir Putin. -snip- Makei...

Belarus's foreign minister Vladimir Makei was poisoned in a Kremlin sting operation, extraordinary new reports have claimed. The veteran diplomat and former spy died suddenly yesterday amid claims he was in secret contact with the West concerning the war in Ukraine and preventing Belarus from being incorporated into Russia by Vladimir Putin. A video shows Makei, 64, looking healthy on a Belarus military cargo plane last week shortly before he died. He wasn't known to suffer from any chronic illness. -snip- Makei was this week due to attend an Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) meeting in Poland...

Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has postponed a planned visit to Minsk following the death of his Belarusian counterpart Vladimir Makei, according to Russian media reports quoting the foreign ministry. Belarus's state news agency Belta reported on Saturday that the long-standing foreign minister and associate of authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko had died suddenly. The cause of death wasn't given and Makei wasn't known to suffer from any chronic illness. Makei, 64, was due to meet Lavrov on Monday. Last week he attended a conference of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) -- a military alliance of several post soviet states...

Vladimir Makei 'passed away suddenly', Belarusian state media reported today They gave no cause for Makei's death or any explanation of the circumstances Makei, 64, was due to meet Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov tomorrow He was then set to travel to Poland to meet a host of Western diplomats Some opposition figures in Russia and Belarus have posited the Belarusian security service could well have been involved in Makei's death Belarus's long-standing foreign minister has died suddenly, the state news agency Belta reported on Saturday, just days before he was due in Poland to meet key Western officials. 'Foreign Minister...

Vladimir Makei, the foreign minister of Belarus, has died at age 64, Belarusian state news agency Belta reported Saturday. No cause of death was stated, but Belta said he passed away "suddenly." Makei had been the foreign minister of the authoritarian country since 2012 and was one of longtime ruler Alexander Lukashenko's close allies. Before his time as a minister, he was Lukashenko's chief of staff. Makei was also considered a possible successor to Lukashenko, who has ruled with an iron fist since 1994. Born in 1958 in the western Grodno region, Makei studied in Minsk and Austria before serving...

Black Friday early deals Lukashenko sparks health scare as Putin ally struggles to disembark private jumbo jet Belarusian dictator Aleksandr Lukashenko struggled down aircraft stairs on landing in Armenia for a summit with Vladimir Putin. By TIM MCNULTY 10:12, Thu, Nov 24, 2022 | UPDATED: 10:12, Thu, Nov 24, 2022 5 Alexander Lukashenko struggles to disembark private jet Enter your email address here SUBSCRIBE We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you've consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at...

More Russian troops have arrived in Belarus for military training, prompting anxiety in Ukraine. Some 9,000 Russian soldiers are expected to be stationed in Belarus for what is officially described as "exercises". But the troop movement -- which began on Saturday -- has prompted speculation in the West that the manoeuvres could be in preparation for a new attack on Ukraine. The last time Belarusian and Russian forces held joint exercises was in February. Many of those Russian forces went on to cross the Ukrainian border in their ill-fated push to capture Kyiv. The exercises were announced last week by...

Russia is considering withdrawing troops and equipment over the Dnipro river despite all permanent bridges being damaged, said the UK Ministry of Defence.Following a rare admission by Russia's new General of the difficulties his forces are facing in Kherson, the MoD said Moscow appears to be considering a "major withdrawal" west of the Dnipro river.[ Excerpted per posting Rules ]

The defence ministry in Minsk on Sunday said just under 9,000 Russian troops would be stationed in Belarus as part of a "regional grouping" of forces to protect its borders. "The first troop trains with Russian servicemen who are part of the (regional grouping) began to arrive in Belarus," Valeriy Revenko, head of the defence ministry's international military cooperation department, wrote on Twitter. "The relocation will take several days. "The total number will be a little less than 9,000 people."

...eight months after Russia invaded Ukraine, Lukashenko’s Russian-enabled grip on power risks slipping as Moscow pressures him to get more involved in the faltering military campaign next door in Ukraine. Artyom Shraibman, a Belarusian political analyst who fled to Poland after a brutal crackdown on postelection protests in 2020, cautioned that it was unclear exactly what Putin had asked of the Belarusian leader in St. Petersburg but, he added: “it is very clear that Lukashenko is not yet willing to join the war” because of the immense political risks that would bring. Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, a Belarusian opposition leader and a...

Belarus has ordered its troops to be tested for 'combat readiness' amid reports of Russian soldiers flooding into the country 'by the trainload', after dictator Alexander Lukashenko announced he will deploy a 'joint military task force' with Moscow - a move Minsk claims is 'purely defensive'. The combat readiness test, ordered by Lukashenko, was announced as the head of his secret service said he expected to see a 'turning point' in Vladimir Putin's invasion in the coming months. Belarusian news agency BelTA reported Tuesday that the Security Council of the Republic of Belarus had 'begun a test of the Armed...

Fears were raised today that Belarus could join the conflict in Ukraine after President Alexander Lukashenko announced he will deploy a 'joint military task force' with Russia on the country's western border. The dictator said this was in response to what he said was a clear threat to Belarus from Kyiv and its backers in the West, claiming without evidence that that Lithuania, Poland and Ukraine were training Belarusian 'radicals' for terror attacks, after announcing plans to deploy joint troops with Moscow. -snip- 'Strikes on the territory of Belarus are not just being discussed in Ukraine today, but are also...

Polish citizens in Belarus should leave the country, Warsaw said on Monday, as relations between the two countries become increasingly tense in part due to the war in Ukraine. The advice follows a similar recommendation given in September to Poles in Russia, a close ally of Belarus. "We recommend that Polish citizens staying on the territory of the Republic of Belarus leave its territory with available commercial and private means," the government said in guidance for travellers published on its website.