Russian President Vladimir Putin. A Kremlin document reveals Russia’s plans to annex Belarus by 2030. Photo/REUTERS
The leaked document was revealed Yahoo News in a report published Monday.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, in office since 1994 after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, is a close ally of Putin and a vocal supporter of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Internal strategy document, obtained Yahoo Newsdetailing Russia’s plans to annex Belarus and create a “Russian-Belarusian Union State” by 2030.
Also read: Belarusian President Threatens to Join War with Russia
According to the report, the Presidential Directorate for Cooperation across Borders wrote the scheme, which outlines the benchmarks the Kremlin must achieve in 2022, 2025, and 2030 to ensure that Russia has control of the information space and that there is a common approach to historical interpretation in Belarus.
Russia, the report continues, allegedly wants to achieve this through political, economic and military tactics.
The Russian and Belarusian embassies in the United States did not return requests for comment late Monday, they were quoted as saying Fox NewsTuesday (21/2/2023).
Russian troops entered Belarus ahead of Putin’s invasion of Ukraine last year, but Lukashenko has so far refused to get directly involved in the conflict.