Alexander Lukashenko

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Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko gestures during a joint news conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin following their talks in the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Friday, Feb. 18, 2022. (Sergei Guneyev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Putin offered heads-up, protection guarantee ahead of invasion: Belarus’ Lukashenko

By David R. Sands - The Washington Times

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, right, and Belarusian Defense Minister Viktor Khrenin, centre, attend meeting with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, left, in Minsk, Belarus, Thursday, Feb. 3, 2022. (Maxim Guchek/BelTA Pool Photo via AP)

Belarusian President Lukashenko to meet Putin Friday amid soaring Ukraine tensions

By David R. Sands - The Washington Times

Blogger Siarhei Tsikhanouski, stands back to camera inside a cage, in a court room in remand prison in Gomel, Belarus, Tuesday, Dec. 14, 2021. A court in Belarus on Tuesday sentenced the husband of the country's opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya to 18 years in prison, six months after the trial began behind closed doors. The charges against Siarhei Tsikhanouski included organizing mass unrest and inciting hatred and have been widely seen as politically motivated. (Sergei Kholodilin/BelTA via AP)

Harsh prison terms for top democracy activists spark sharp Western criticism

By David R. Sands - The Washington Times

Migrants settle in the logistics center of the checkpoint &quot;Bruzgi&quot; at the Belarus-Poland border near Grodno, Belarus, Wednesday, Dec. 1, 2021. The West has accused Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko of luring thousands of migrants to Belarus with the promise of help to get to Western Europe to use them as pawns to destabilize the 27-nation European Union in retaliation for its sanctions on his authoritarian government. Belarus denies engineering the crisis. (Oksana Manchuk/BelTA via AP)

U.S., EU and allies hit Belarus with coordinated sanctions

By Lorne Cook - Associated Press

Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya addresses the European Parliament in Strasbourg, eastern France, Wednesday, Nov.24, 2021. (AP Photo/Jean-Francois Badias)

EU urged not to forget Belarus as bloc prepares sanctions

By Lorne Cook - Associated Press

Migrants sleep a logistics center at the checkpoint "Kuznitsa" at the Belarus-Poland border near Grodno, Belarus, Monday, Nov. 22, 2021. Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko on Monday chafed at the European Union for its refusal to hold talks on the influx of migrants on the country's border with Poland and urged Germany to accommodate about 2,000 migrants who had remained on the border with Poland. (Maxim Guchek/BelTA via AP)

U.S. envoy rips Russian disinformation for inflaming tensions as Belarus clash deepens

By Guy Taylor - The Washington Times

Migrants from the Middle East and elsewhere gather at the checkpoint "Kuznitsa" at the Belarus-Poland border near Grodno, Belarus, on Monday, Nov. 15, 2021. European Union foreign ministers are expected Monday to decide to expand sanctions against Belarus to include airlines, travel agents and individuals alleged to be helping to lure migrants to Europe as part of a "hybrid attack" against the bloc by President Alexander Lukashenko. (Leonid Shcheglov/BelTA photo via AP)

A manufactured border crisis puts Belarus back in the spotlight

By Guy Taylor - The Washington Times

FILE - Migrants from the Middle East and elsewhere rest on the ground as they gather at the Belarus-Poland border near Grodno, Belarus, Monday, Nov. 8, 2021. Thousands of migrants flocked to Belarus' border with Poland hoping to get to Western Europe, an influx that prompted Polish authorities to introduce a state of emergency and deploy thousands of troops and police. (Leonid Shcheglov/BelTA via AP, File)

What’s behind the crisis at Belarus-Poland border

By Yuras Karmanau - Associated Press

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko speaks during a meeting in Minsk, Belarus, Monday, Sept. 6, 2021. (Nikolay Petrov/BelTA Pool Photo via AP)

Neighbors wary as Russia, Belarus kick off major joint military drill

By David R. Sands - The Washington Times

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko speaks to high level military officials in Minsk, Belarus, Thursday, Aug. 5, 2021. (Nikolay Petrov/Pool Photo via AP)

Joint military drills spark fears of growing Russian sway in Belarus

By Guy Taylor - The Washington Times

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko attends an annual press conference in Minsk, Belarus, Monday, Aug. 9, 2021. Belarus' authoritarian leader on Monday charged that the opposition was plotting a coup in the runup to last year's presidential election that triggered a monthslong wave of mass protests. President Alexander Lukashenko held his annual press conference on Monday, the one-year anniversary of the vote that handed him a sixth term in office but was denounced by the opposition and the West as rigged. (Pavel Orlovsky/BelTA photo via AP)

Biden administration slaps new sanctions on Belarus

By Jeff Mordock - The Washington Times

Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., speaks during a Senate Finance Committee hearing on the IRS budget request on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, June 8, 2021. (Tom Williams/Pool via AP) **FILE**

Russian influence key focus at Senate hearing on Belarus

By Joseph Clark - The Washington Times

In this Wednesday, May 26, 2021, file photo, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko addresses Parliament in Minsk, Belarus. Lukashenko defended the diversion of a commercial flight carrying dissident journalist Raman Pratasevich to Minsk, where he was arrested on Sunday, May 23, 2021. The diversion triggered bruising European Union sanctions and Lukashenko accused the West of trying to &quot;strangle&quot; his country. (Sergei Shelega/BelTA Pool Photo via AP)

Belarus’ leader seeks Russia’s support amid showdown with EU

By Vladimir Isachenkov - Associated Press

Viachka Krasulin, who fled Belarus after police arrested and beat him during demonstrations against authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko in August 2020, sits at a cafe in Vilnius, Lithuania, on Wednesday, May 19, 2021. He and other Belarusians who have left for European countries like Lithuania were shocked after Belarus diverted a Ryanair jetliner on Sunday, May 23, 2021, to arrest dissident journalist Raman Pratasevich, who also was living abroad but was on the flight. (AP Photo/Mindaugas Kulbis)

Belarusians who fled crackdown fearful after diverted flight

By Yuras Karmanau - Associated Press

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko addresses the Parliament in Minsk, Belarus, Wednesday, May 26, 2021. Lukashenko is defending his action to divert a European flight that triggered bruising European Union sanctions and accused the West of waging a "hybrid war" to "strangle" the ex-Soviet nation. On Sunday, May 23, 2021, Belarusian flight controllers ordered a Ryanair jetliner flying from Greece to Vilnius to land in the country's capital, Minsk because of a bomb threat and a Belarusian fighter jet was scrambled to escort the plane. (Sergei Shelega/BelTA Pool Photo via AP)

Belarusian leader defends his action to divert flight

By Yuras Karmanau - Associated Press

In this photo provided by ONLINER.BY, security use a sniffer dog to check the luggage of passengers on the Ryanair plane with registration number SP-RSM, carrying opposition figure Raman Pratasevich which was traveling from Athens to Vilnius and was diverted to Minsk after a bomb threat, in Minsk International airport, Sunday, May 23, 2021, in BelarusWestern leaders decried the diversion of a plane to Belarus in order to arrest an opposition journalist as an act of piracy and terrorism. The European Union and others on Monday demanded an investigation into the dramatic forced landing of the Ryanair jet. (ONLINER.BY via AP)

Raman Pratasevich detainment, Ryanair flight ‘forced diversion’ condemned by Joe Biden

By David Sherfinski and Tom Howell Jr. - The Washington Times

In this Sunday, March 26, 2017, file photo, Belarus police detain journalist Raman Pratasevich, center, in Minsk, Belarus. Raman Pratasevich, a founder of a messaging app channel that has been a key information conduit for opponents of Belarus’ authoritarian president, has been arrested after an airliner in which he was riding was diverted to Belarus because of a bomb threat. The presidential press service said President Alexander Lukashenko personally ordered that a MiG-29 fighter jet accompany the Ryanair plane — traveling from Athens, Greece, to Vilnius, Lithuania — to the Minsk airport. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits, File)

West condemns plane’s diversion to arrest Belarus journalist

By Raf Casert and Liudas Dapkus - Associated Press

In this Sunday, March 26, 2017, file photo, Belarus police detain journalist Raman Pratasevich, center, in Minsk, Belarus. Raman Pratasevich, a founder of a messaging app channel that has been a key information conduit for opponents of Belarus’ authoritarian president, has been arrested after an airliner in which he was riding was diverted to Belarus because of a bomb threat. The presidential press service said President Alexander Lukashenko personally ordered that a MiG-29 fighter jet accompany the Ryanair plane — traveling from Athens, Greece, to Vilnius, Lithuania — to the Minsk airport. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits, File)

Michael McCaul seeks Alexander Lukashenko punishment for bogus threat to arrest opposition activist

By Guy Taylor - The Washington Times

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko speaks to Russian President Vladimir Putin during their meeting in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, Russia, Monday, Feb. 22, 2021. (Alexei Druzhinin, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Belarusian Olympic body elects Lukashenko’s son as leader

Associated Press

Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko pose for a photo during their meeting in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, Russia, Monday, Feb. 22, 2021. (Alexei Druzhinin, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Russia’s Putin hosts Belarusian president for talks in Sochi

Associated Press