By Brian Whitmore
When Vladimir Putin and Alyaksandr Lukashenka met at a space launch facility in the Russian Far East on April 12, the carefully choreographed press conference was full of the predictable agitprop, lies, and disinformation.
The Belarusian dictator claimed that the atrocities committed by Russian forces in the Kyiv suburb of Bucha were actually faked as part of “a psychological operation staged by Englishmen.” For his part, the Kremlin autocrat declared that the Russian war against Ukraine was proceeding as planned and insisted Moscow’s “goals are absolutely clear and noble.”
But the gaslighting and falsehoods masked an important truth about why Putin and Lukashenka were meeting now. As Russia shifts its tactics, abandoning for the time being its efforts to take Kyiv in favor of an assault on eastern and southern Ukraine, Belarus’s role in the war is also undergoing a transformation.
In the run-up to the meeting, Lukashenka, who has allowed Russia to use Belarusian territory as a staging ground for its assault on Ukraine, complained bitterly about being labeled “an accomplice of the aggressor.” He also repeatedly demanded that Belarus be a party to any talks to resolve the war. Meanwhile, Belarus recently published a list of unfriendly countries that pointedly did not include Ukraine.
The Kremlin is also playing along with these apparent attempts to reframe the Belarusian role in the war. In recent days, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov suggested, apparently with a straight face, that Belarus should be one of the “neutral” countries that could provide security guarantees to Ukraine in the event that Kyiv declares its neutrality.