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Japan was the first country to break its silence after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine last year. Tokyo said of the Kuril Islands that it was “completely unacceptable that the Northern Territories have yet to be returned since the Soviet Union’s illegal occupation of them 77 years ago”. That annexation saw the expulsion of Japanese people from the southern islands, and since then, the countries have failed to reach a compromise. Talks broke down when Putin showed he was not willing to share lands but only to gain new ones. Then China started drawing maps marking part of Siberia and...

Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko has claimed that nations who are willing “to join the Union State of Russia and Belarus” will be given nuclear weapons, days after confirming the transfer of some tactical nuclear weapons from Moscow to Minsk had begun. Lukashenko, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, made the comments in an on-camera interview released Sunday on the state-run Russia 1 channel. During the interview, Lukashenko said, “no one minds Kazakhstan and other countries having the same close relations that we have with the Russian Federation.” “It’s very simple,” he added. “Join the Union State of Belarus...

Kostyuk, the world number 39, had warned she would not shake hands with Russian and Belarusian players due to the ongoing war in Ukraine – a stance she and other Ukrainian athletes have stuck to since Moscow’s forces invaded their country last year, with support from Belarus. The 20-year-old from Kyiv duly avoided her opponent on Court Philippe Chatrier, the French Open’s showpiece arena, after losing 6-3 6-2 in a lopsided contest with world number two Aryna Sabalenka. But she was taken aback by what followed. A significant part of the crowd booed and whistled at her as she skipped...

Belarus dictator Alexander Lukashenko has been taken seriously ill for the second time this month in Moscow, reports say. The 68-year-old was said to have been hospitalised in a 'critical' condition after collapsing during a trip to meet close ally Vladimir Putin. He was seen struggling to speak and with a bandaged arm last week after disappearing from the public eye on May 9, sparking rumours around his health. Despite efforts by local authorities to end speculation with photographs and video of the leader performing duties on May 15, doctors are again raising health concerns. His office previously refused to...

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said that Russia has started moving tactical nuclear weapons to his country. “We had to prepare storage areas and stuff. We have done this, so the movement of nuclear weapons has already begun," Lukashenko told Russia’s Pervy TV. Lukashenko, who was on a trip to Moscow, said some of the weapons might already be transferred. He refused to specify the number of weapons and locations of their storage in Belarus and said: "Don't worry about nuclear weapons, we are responsible for this."

that he was seriously ill. The Belarusian outlet, Pul Pervogo, posted the photo of the 68-year-old on its Telegram channel - which is known for reporting on the president - after his whereabouts were unknown for almost a week. The channel said the president was working at a central air force command base. In the post, he is standing stern-faced as he receives a salute with a bandage tied to his left hand. Mr Lukashenko had not been seen in public since last Tuesday (9 May) at Victory Day events in Moscow, and later in the Belarusian capital, Minsk. The...

SPECULATION is rising that Vladimir Putin’s close war ally, Belarus tyrant Alexander Lukashenko is seriously ill - or even dead. He has not been seen since in public since he was rushed to the airport with an ambulance in tow in Moscow after attending Russia’s Victory Day military parade on Tuesday. The Duma announced late day on May 14 that Lukashenko is sick, but "does not have COVID". First Deputy Chairman of the Duma said: "There's nothing so supernatural there, it's not Covid. A person just got sick. "Despite the fact that the person fell ill, he considered it his...

Belarus' leader Alexander Lukashenko has missed a major state celebration, further fuelling health speculation. The autocratic politician, 68, usually speaks publicly at the annual National Flag, Emblem and Anthem Day event but his prime minister read a message on his behalf on Sunday. Last week, Mr Lukashenko left Moscow soon after Victory Day parade, skipping lunch with President Vladimir Putin. Mr Lukashenko looked visibly tired, and his right hand was bandaged. He was last seen in public laying flowers in the capital Minsk during Belarus' own Victory Day celebrations on 9 May - a few hours after returning from the...

Even conservative estimates suggest Russia has lost as many as 10,000 pieces of military hardware in Ukraine Analysts point to failure of Moscow's tactics and Ukraine 'outclassing' Kremlin's troops on the battlefield Tuesday saw Vladimir Putin host Russia's annual Victory Day parade to mark 78 years since the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany. But while recent years have seen ostentatious displays with dozens of the Kremlin's most sophisticated pieces of military hardware rolling through Moscow's famous Red Square, this year saw a significantly slimmed-down affair. Some 8,000 troops took part in the parade - the lowest number since 2008....

Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko checked into a hospital near Minsk, according to Belarusian publication Euroradio and watchdog Belarusian Hajun. They reported that Lukashenko's convoy arrived to the hospital at around 7 p.m., during which time access to the clinic was closed off and the roads to it were guarded by armed enforcers. Lukashenko was publicly seen in Moscow celebrating Victory Day with Russian President Vladimir Putin and leaders of the Commonwealth of Independent States countries, where his apparent physical weakness drew attention. Unlike the other leaders, he had to be driven around the small perimeter where the event took place....

This is the moment a hobbling Alexander Lukashenko begged Vladimir Putin and a Russian security operative to provide him with transport and save him from walking at today's military parade. Doddering along, the Belarusian tyrant was unable to walk less than a quarter of a mile alongside Vladimir Putin at the Red Square event. The despot had been shuffling to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Alexander Garden, alongside the Kremlin wall, to lay a wreath with the Kremlin ruler and other ex-Soviet republic leaders. Appearing in evident discomfort, Lukashenko grimaced and pleaded with Putin to get him some...

peculation is surrounding Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko's health after he reportedly made an early exit during Russia's Victory Day festivities. Lukashenko was photographed at the event with a visible bandage on his right arm. A staunch Putin ally, Lukashenko was the only one of the invited heads of state who did not join Putin in laying down flowers at the tomb of the Unknown Soldier, a 300-meter walk from where he was seated during the procession, Belarusian newspaper Nasha Niva reported. Belarusian political analyst Dmitry Bolkunets wrote on Telegram that Lukashenko also did not attend a meal with Putin and...

For Ruslan, an engineer in the Belarus capital of Minsk, Russia’s war in neighboring Ukraine suddenly seemed closer than ever when a conscription office recently sent him a summons for military training. It’s part of an effort that will see thousands of men in Belarus attend drills amid fears that the staunch Moscow ally could be drawn into the fighting. “They are telling us that Belarus won’t enter the war against Ukraine, but I hear Russian warplanes roar over my house heading to the Machulishchi air base outside Minsk,” the 27-year-old told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. He...

Belarusian air force crews have completed their training for using tactical nuclear weapons as part of Russia’s plan to deploy the weapons to its ally Belarus amid the fighting in neighboring Ukraine, the Russian Defense Ministry said Friday. The ministry released a video in which a Belarusian pilot said that the training course in Russia had given the crews of the Belarusian air force’s Su-25 ground attack jets the necessary skills for using the weapons. Russian President Vladimir Putin declared last month that Moscow planned to put some of its tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus. It was another attempt by...

Russian President Vladimir Putin welcomed Belarus counterpart Alexander Lukashenko to Moscow on Wednesday for two days of talks, but in their opening public remarks both men steered clear of the war in Ukraine. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said last week the two leaders would discuss Lukashenko's call for an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine. Last month Putin said Russia would deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus. "I must say that we have done a lot as a result of our joint work in all areas," Putin told Lukashenko in comments broadcast by state television.

President Alexander Lukashenko said on Friday that Russia, which has already decided to station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, could if necessary put intercontinental nuclear missiles there too. In an annual address to lawmakers and government officials, Lukashenko said Moscow's plans to station nuclear arms on the territory of its close ally would help protect Belarus, which he said was under threat from the West. (snip) "I am not trying to intimidate or blackmail anyone. I want to safeguard the Belarusian state and ensure peace for the Belarusian people," Lukashenko said. Although Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Saturday that...

Russia said on Friday that a ceasefire in Ukraine would not enable it to achieve the goals of its "special military operation" at the moment. The Kremlin was reacting after Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko - Russia's closest ally - called for an immediate ceasefire, without preconditions, and for both Moscow and Kyiv to start negotiations on a lasting peace settlement. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Russia had noted Lukashenko's comments and that President Vladimir Putin would discuss it with him next week. But he said Russia's goals in Ukraine could not be achieved at the moment through a halt...

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said on Friday that he had intensified talks with Russia about deploying tactical nuclear weapons in his country, alleging there were plans to invade Belarus from neighboring Poland. Speaking at an annual address to lawmakers and government officials, Lukashenko said Moscow’s plans to station nuclear arms in Belarus would help “safeguard” the country, which he said was under threat from the West. “Take my word for it, I have never deceived you. They are preparing to invade Belarus, to destroy our country,” he told the audience.

Former national security adviser John Bolton on Monday said Russian President Vladimir Putin “may not be bluffing” about his plans to move nuclear weapons into neighboring Belarus as Moscow’s war on Ukraine stretches into its second year. Putin’s threat to station the weapons in Belarus has been condemned by the U.S. and NATO — and Ukraine has called the move “nuclear blackmail.” “Well, I think he’s been bluffing when he’s tried to rattle the nuclear saber before. He may not be bluffing here in the sense he may actually move tactical nuclear weapons into Belarus, which is its own separate...

In a thick pine forest in western Ukraine, not far from the border with the Kremlin-aligned nation of Belarus, a military engineer named Anton is supervising a vast underground construction site. "It's a bunker," says Anton, who, like the other soldiers in this story, declined to give his last name for security reasons. "We shipped in most of the wood because we didn't want to cut the trees here. We need them for cover." He won't say how many soldiers the bunker, which is almost finished, will house. But he does give NPR a tour, walking us through a labyrinth...