Lukashenko Is ‘Selling Belarus, Piece by Piece, to Russia’
The Belarusian leader may forge a “union state” with Moscow, says former political opponent Andrei Sannikov.
Last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin dismissed his ambassador to Belarus after months of tension. Mikhail Babich, a former KGB officer, had made a number of controversial comments that provoked the ire of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko. The Belarusian Foreign Ministry accused the diplomat of treating Belarus as a district of Russia as opposed to an independent state.
Amy Mackinnon is a national security and intelligence reporter at Foreign Policy. Twitter: @ak_mack
More from Foreign Policy

At Long Last, the Foreign Service Gets the Netflix Treatment
Keri Russell gets Drexel furniture but no Senate confirmation hearing.

How Macron Is Blocking EU Strategy on Russia and China
As a strategic consensus emerges in Europe, France is in the way.

What the Bush-Obama China Memos Reveal
Newly declassified documents contain important lessons for U.S. China policy.

Russia’s Boom Business Goes Bust
Moscow’s arms exports have fallen to levels not seen since the Soviet Union’s collapse.