Putin pushes for more integration with Belarus after election unrest

FILE PHOTO: Russia's President Vladimir Putin delivers a speech during the Navy Day parade in Saint Petersburg, Russia July 26, 2020. Sputnik/Alexei Druzhinin/Kremlin via REUTERSMOSCOW: President Vladimir Putin said on Monday he wanted neighbouring Belarus to reactivate stalled plans for more integration with Russia after a contested election win left Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko, an on-off Russian ally, on the defensive.

The Russian leader has long pushed for closer ties with Minsk under the auspices of a unified state, something Lukashenko has so far rejected, accusing Russia of wanting to swallow up his country of 9.5 million people. "I hope your state activity will facilitate mutually beneficial Russian-Belarusian relations in all areas, deepen cooperation within the Union State, and build up integration processes," Putin said in a congratulatory telegram to Lukashenko.Putin said he hoped Belarus would opt, too, for closer military-political ties with Russia inside a defence bloc that they both belong to.

He has previously baulked at closer ties after Russia scaled back subsidies to the Belarusian energy sector, and in a pre-election speech excoriated Russia, saying Moscow had downgraded formerly brotherly relations to those of a partnership.

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