{"id":11452,"date":"2022-07-29T18:01:13","date_gmt":"2022-07-29T15:01:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/api.pozirk.online\/longreads\/kremlin-may-force-lukasenka-to-accept-union-state-expansion\/"},"modified":"2026-02-24T20:29:13","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T20:29:13","slug":"kremlin-may-force-lukasenka-to-accept-union-state-expansion","status":"publish","type":"longreads","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/11452\/","title":{"rendered":"Kremlin may force \u0141uka\u0161enka to accept Union State expansion"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n By Alaksandr K\u0142asko\u016dski, BPN<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\t * Reproduction is allowed\n<\/p>\n

\n Alaksandr \u0141uka\u0161enka made a surprising remark about sovereignty at his meeting with Dmitry Makhonin, governor of Russia\u2019s Perm Krai, on July 28.<\/b>\n<\/p>\n

\n\t \u201cIf people are not fed, cannot provide food for themselves, there is no point in talking about sovereignty, independence and existence to begin with,\u201d the Belarusian ruler said.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t Belarus has ceded essential elements of its sovereignty to Russia in the last few months.\n<\/p>\n

Pushilin\u2019s visit to Brest<\/span> <\/h2>\n

\n\t It is true that Belarusians are not starving. Food exports generate the country considerable revenue, although state propaganda exaggerates farms\u2019 accomplishments.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t But even if the country produces more crops in 2022 than last year it will not be more independent.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t Belarus has ceded important elements of its sovereignty to Moscow this year. The Kremlin has used its territory as a staging ground for attacks on Ukraine, treating the Belarusian regime as its vassal.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t Hours before \u0141uka\u0161enka\u2019s meeting with Makhonin, Russian troops launched missiles from Belarus to hit facilities in Ukraine\u2019s Chernihiv region, the Ukrainian military said. Russian generals use Belarus without consultation with its commander in chief.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t One day earlier, Denis Pushilin, governor of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People\u2019s Republic (DNR), was seen in Brest, southwestern Belarus, in the company of Andrey Turchak, leader of the United Russia party, and Russian Ambassador Boris Gryzlov.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t \u0141uka\u0161enka has not met with Pushilin, while state media refrained from covering his visit. The Belarusian ruler does not want to be perceived as equal to the DNR leader. He does not want to be perceived as the Kremlin\u2019s puppet.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t But he could not deny Pushilin permission to visit Minsk because he is not in command on his turf.\n<\/p>\n

Minsk delays official recognition<\/span> <\/h2>\n

\n\t On the one hand, \u0141uka\u0161enka said in interviews that Crimea is Russia\u2019s territory de facto and de jure. But he seems to be reluctant to visit the peninsula or meet with the leaders of the Donetsk and Luhansk People\u2019s Republics in person.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t \u201cDe facto we have recognized that there is Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk,\u201d he told AFP earlier this month. \u201cAll that gossip why \u0141uka\u0161enka recognized or not . . . If necessary, we will recognize by presidential edict. But it won\u2019t get you anywhere now.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n\t He definitely did not like the question. And he is reluctant to issue the edict, although he seems to have little or nothing to lose, and could even receive additional benefits from Moscow in return for his formal acknowledgement.\n<\/p>\n

Belarusian ruler wants Putin to treat him as equal<\/span> <\/h2>\n

\n\t The Belarusian ruler may have not given up hope to mend fences with his Western adversaries. He is unsure how the war will unfold and what impact it will make on Russia. He may have to distance himself from Moscow\u2019s policies, eventually.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t Observers have speculated that Moscow may admit the DNR, LNR, Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Transnistria to the Union State of Belarus and Russia. It would be a nightmare for the Belarusian ruler, who has cast himself as an equal partner of Vladimir Putin and a privileged ally.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t Minsk has used the Union State as a tool to extort subsidies from Moscow.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t It must be humiliating for \u0141uka\u0161enka to think that he may be forced to sit at a table with the self-proclaimed leaders and compete with them for Russian subsidies.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t The Belarusian ruler can hardly object to Putin now that he relies on Moscow for political survival.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t Three years ago, he rejected Moscow\u2019s proposals on deeper integration only to sign slightly watered-down programs in 2021.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t Clearly, Moscow is holding out for full control of Belarus, which it considers its territory like Ukraine. The difference is that Russia does not need \u201ca special operation\u201d to capture the former.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Alaksandr K\u0142asko\u016dski, BPN * Reproduction is allowed Alaksandr \u0141uka\u0161enka made a surprising remark about sovereignty at his meeting with Dmitry Makhonin, governor of Russia\u2019s Perm Krai, on July 28. \u201cIf people are not fed, cannot provide food for themselves, there is no point in talking about sovereignty, independence and existence to begin with,\u201d the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":75,"featured_media":0,"template":"","rubric":[22],"class_list":["post-11452","longreads","type-longreads","status-publish","hentry","rubric-theviewer"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nKremlin may force \u0141uka\u0161enka to accept Union State expansion | Pozirk<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"By Alaksandr K\u0142asko\u016dski, BPN * Reproduction is allowed Alaksandr \u0141uka\u0161enka made a surprising remark about sovereignty at his meeting with Dmitry Makhonin,\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/11452\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Kremlin may force \u0141uka\u0161enka to accept Union State expansion | Pozirk\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Alaksandr K\u0142asko\u016dski, BPN * Reproduction is allowed Alaksandr \u0141uka\u0161enka made a surprising remark about sovereignty at his meeting with Dmitry Makhonin,\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/11452\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Pozirk\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pozirkonline\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-02-24T20:29:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Pozirk_online\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/11452\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/11452\/\"},\"headline\":\"Kremlin may force \u0141uka\u0161enka to accept Union State expansion\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-07-29T15:01:13+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-24T20:29:13+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/11452\/\"},\"wordCount\":638,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#organization\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/11452\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/11452\/\",\"name\":\"Kremlin may force \u0141uka\u0161enka to accept Union State expansion | Pozirk\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2022-07-29T15:01:13+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-24T20:29:13+00:00\",\"description\":\"By Alaksandr K\u0142asko\u016dski, BPN * Reproduction is allowed Alaksandr \u0141uka\u0161enka made a surprising remark about sovereignty at his meeting with Dmitry Makhonin,\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/11452\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/11452\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/11452\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Kremlin may force \u0141uka\u0161enka to accept Union State expansion\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/\",\"name\":\"Pozirk\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Pozirk\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/cropped-Logo_color_512.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/cropped-Logo_color_512.png\",\"width\":512,\"height\":512,\"caption\":\"Pozirk\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pozirkonline\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/Pozirk_online\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Kremlin may force \u0141uka\u0161enka to accept Union State expansion | Pozirk","description":"By Alaksandr K\u0142asko\u016dski, BPN * Reproduction is allowed Alaksandr \u0141uka\u0161enka made a surprising remark about sovereignty at his meeting with Dmitry Makhonin,","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/11452\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Kremlin may force \u0141uka\u0161enka to accept Union State expansion | Pozirk","og_description":"By Alaksandr K\u0142asko\u016dski, BPN * Reproduction is allowed Alaksandr \u0141uka\u0161enka made a surprising remark about sovereignty at his meeting with Dmitry Makhonin,","og_url":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/11452\/","og_site_name":"Pozirk","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pozirkonline\/","article_modified_time":"2026-02-24T20:29:13+00:00","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_site":"@Pozirk_online","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/11452\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/11452\/"},"headline":"Kremlin may force \u0141uka\u0161enka to accept Union State expansion","datePublished":"2022-07-29T15:01:13+00:00","dateModified":"2026-02-24T20:29:13+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/11452\/"},"wordCount":638,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#organization"},"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/11452\/","url":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/11452\/","name":"Kremlin may force \u0141uka\u0161enka to accept Union State expansion | Pozirk","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#website"},"datePublished":"2022-07-29T15:01:13+00:00","dateModified":"2026-02-24T20:29:13+00:00","description":"By Alaksandr K\u0142asko\u016dski, BPN * Reproduction is allowed Alaksandr \u0141uka\u0161enka made a surprising remark about sovereignty at his meeting with Dmitry Makhonin,","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/11452\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/11452\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/11452\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Kremlin may force \u0141uka\u0161enka to accept Union State expansion"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/","name":"Pozirk","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#organization","name":"Pozirk","url":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/cropped-Logo_color_512.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/cropped-Logo_color_512.png","width":512,"height":512,"caption":"Pozirk"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pozirkonline\/","https:\/\/x.com\/Pozirk_online"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/longreads\/11452","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/longreads"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/longreads"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/75"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11452"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"rubric","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rubric?post=11452"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}