Belarus leader losing the plot, Russia considering options
Two interesting articles out recently on Belarus highlight the difficulties experienced by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko following the recent spat over energy prices with Russia and the new round of introspection inside Russia itself on how things went wrong with Belarus and what Moscow should do now.
The first, by Jan Maksymiuk at RFE, argues that Lukashenko now “seems to be utterly confused and at a loss to decide what course he should take now.”
The second article, from RIA Novosti, is by Sergei Karaganov, head of Moscow’s Council on Foreign and Defence Policy. He argues that Russia dropped the ball on Belarus and suggests that Moscow must now formulate a new policy so that if changes do come in Belarus the new elite’s priorities are aligned with Moscow.