Maria Zakharova, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on August 14 that Belarusian protests were the outcome of interference of ‘foreign states’ to hit the nation off the state of stability and generate rift among people of Belarus. Belarus protests are steeply rising which means looming possibility of Lukashenko’s mass disregard as a President.
To bring the nationwide protests to an end, Lukashenko is apparently counting on his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Russia’s Putin is one of the few country leaders to have recognized Lukashenko as a President including Armenia’s President Armen Sarkissian, Prime Minister Nikon Pashinyan, and Kyrgyzstan President Sooronbay Jeenbekov.
According to the Belarusian state news agency Belta, the Presidents discussed the critical “situation that is unfolding inside and around Belarus” in a bid to come to a solution that can get Lukashenko off the cliff. The event isn’t a sudden happening, as it comes after Lukashenko displayed his wish to speak with the Russian President last Saturday.
During a briefing of growing protests, Lukashenko told government officials that as the “aggression” and tension in the country are slipping out of the grip, it may be benefiting to contact Putin.
Right after a week, the two Presidents sat and mulled over the likeliness of Belarusian protest affecting other nations. The move is not unexpected because Russia is a closer ally to Belarus than any other country in the world. The two have formed a “Union State” with a strategic military alliance and an integrated economic zone.
The “protection of Belarus” is the protection of the entire Union State, if they fail with Belarus, the protests may roll over to adjoining regions.
Political experts are anticipating what is going to come about next from this meeting between the two nations. As a matter of fact, this “outside meddling” may do more harm than good – as the Belarusian population has already been holding foreign states responsible for the instability within the country.
However, a part of the expectation is that Putin may not be as responsive as he might have been earlier during the virus-free era. Currently, Putin is busy with Russia's newly-found coronavirus vaccine Sputnik V.
Health organizations including WHO are suspecting the effectivity of the vaccine and due to that, countries may not be willing to place orders. Between the health crisis and the possibility to become the solution-giver, Russia’s Vladimir Putin may not be able to offer help to the Belarusian President.