As Belarus braced for a fresh round of protests this week and as opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya called for tough new sanctions against Alyaksandr Lukashenka’s regime in a Congressional testimony, the Kremlin has been busy laying the groundwork to tighten its grip on Russia’s far smaller but strategically important western neighbor.
Most notably, Russia is about to send its third ambassador to Belarus in three years.
The incoming envoy, Yevgeny Lukyanov, a seasoned diplomat with a background in finance, will replace outgoing ambassador Dmitry Mezentsev, who served just two years. Mezentsev will assume the largely ceremonial post of secretary of state of the Russia-Belarus Union State.
Like Vladimir Putin, Lukyanov is a native of St. Petersburg. He has served as Russia’s ambassador to Latvia since December 2016. Prior to that, Lukyanov was Deputy Secretary of Russia’s powerful Security Council. He also has a background in banking and finance, holding executive positions at Dresdner Bank and VTB from 1993 to 2006.