Russia provides gas to Belarus at well below the market price, and it pledged $1.5bn in loans and deferred debt payments, providing a crucial lifeline to the embattled and already indebted Lukashenko - but could Russia be trying to claim the country as its own?
The Baltic states of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia are now members of NATO, so are probably beyond Russia's grasp - for now - but with the war in Ukraine dominating world headlines, Russia has been quietly increasing its influence and control over Belarus.
The 2020-2021 Belarusian protests were the largest anti-government demonstrations in the country's history.Between August 2020 and February 2022, Putin then pledged $1.5bn in loans to Belarus and deferred debt payments, providing a lifeline to the already indebted Lukashenko. But domestically, fewer than 25% of the Belarusian population believe they should support Russia - and the most recent poll suggested that less than 5% believe Belarus should join Russia to fight against Ukraine.Belarus 'same aggressor as Russia'
Moscow has also mounted Russian offensive operations against Ukraine from Belarus soil and, most recently, agreed to deploy tactical nuclear weapons into the country.
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