Free Republic

Grocery stores in Belarus could be fined if they don’t keep enough potatoes in stock, as the country grapples with shortages, high prices and poor-quality spuds. The new regulation imposes penalties of up to €2,200 (8,400 Belarusian rubles) for failure to supply the staple, widely regarded as Belarus’ national vegetable. The decree, signed into law on Saturday by President Alexander Lukashenko and officially published on Wednesday, puts the onus on both shops and wholesale suppliers to ensure that common ingredients are delivered to stores, especially in the off-season. Belarus has been hit by an apparent potato crisis this year, with...

The Belarusian ruler’s price controls have backfired. Alexander Lukashenko’s stubborn grip on the Belarusian economy plunged the potato-happy country into a spud shortage this spring. Critics of the authoritarian ruler, who in January grabbed a seventh term in power, say he has warped the economy with strict price controls on staples like potatoes — while encouraging citizens to snitch on grocery stores that flout regime rules. The limits, launched by Lukashenko in October 2022 as he aimed to keep prices low and stave off inflation, instead made potatoes far less profitable for farmers to produce. Opponents say that decisions made...

Belarus has freed Sergey Tikhanovsky, a key dissident figure and the husband of exiled opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, following a rare visit by a senior US official, Tikhanovskaya’s team announced on Saturday. Tikhanovsky, a popular blogger and activist who was jailed in 2020, arrived in Vilnius, Lithuania, alongside 13 other political prisoners, his wife’s team said. The release came just hours after Belarusian authorities announced that authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko met with US President Donald Trump’s envoy for Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, in Minsk. A video published on his wife’s official Telegram account showed Tikhanovsky disembarking a white minibus, with a...

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko engaged in dialogue with U.S. special envoy Keith Kellogg, according to a report by the state news agency Belta on Saturday. The discussions between Lukashenko and Kellogg focused on the current global political landscape and the intricate bilateral relations shared by Belarus and the United States. This meeting underscores the continued diplomatic efforts aimed at addressing international issues and fostering cooperation between the two nations.

Vladimir Putin is demanding urgent potato imports from Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus, while he delays supplying the ally with promised notorious Oreshnik horror missiles. Putin has made the shameful admission that he has run out of spuds - one of his country’s leading food staples - amid economic meltdown during his war with Ukraine. It now appears Belarus will not get the lethal missiles until after Lukashenko supplies Putin with new exports of potatoes which have spiralled in prices in Russia. The Minsk tyrant has even cancelled sanctions against imports from the EU to stock up to supply Russia. -snip-...

Russian president Vladimir Putin has acknowledged crop shortages as pressure on the country’s economy continues to mount. Pressure is mounting on Russia amid labour shortages, international sanctions, record interest rates, and inflation, but Putin’s admission of shortages of key crops marks a milestone in the nation’s woes. Speaking yesterday in a televised meeting, he said: “Yesterday, I met with representatives from various business sectors, including agriculture. It turns out that we don’t have enough potatoes. “I spoke with Alexander Grigoryevich Lukashenko. He said, ‘We’ve already sold everything to Russia’.” Potato shortages have become a serious problem in neighbouring Belarus, with...

The head of Russia's mercenary outfit Wagner said it could take months to capture the embattled Ukraine city of Bakhmut and slammed Moscow's "monstrous bureaucracy" for slowing military gains. Russia has been trying to encircle the battered industrial city and wrest it ahead of Feb. 24, the first anniversary of what it terms its "special military operation" in Ukraine. "I think it's (going to be in) March or in April," Wagner head Yevgeny Prigozhin said in one of several messages posted online overnight. "To take Bakhmut you have to cut all supply routes. It's a significant task," he said, adding:...

In a frank discussion about the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed his belief that Russian President Vladimir Putin's time is running out, stating, "He will die soon, and that's a fact, and it will come to an end." Zelensky also said he believes Putin is terrified of losing power within Russia during a roundtable conversation with journalists, including the BBC's Jeremy Bowen. Meanwhile, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte issued a stern warning to Russia, emphasizing that the alliance would unwaveringly support Poland or any other member in the event of an attack. During a visit to the country,...

Russia and Belarus can form a joint parliament if they are ready. This was stated by the President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, speaking at the plenary session of the Federation Council of the Russian Federation. The idea of ​​creating a parliament of the union state was rejected in early 2023. Meanwhile, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union of Russia and Belarus has been operating since 1996, which includes 36 deputies from each country, the newspaper "Parliamentskaya Gazeta" reminds. "The Belarusian-Russian integration process must be made irreversible," Lukashenko believes. Discussing the prospects of Belarus joining Russia, Lukashenko noted: "We must move...

Vladimir Putin has just made it easier for Russians to stand in elections in Belarus – a likely test run for deeper political integration. Russia’s president and his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko are delivering a joint news conference as they meet in Moscow – about the two countries’ ‘friendship’, about ‘hostile and destabilising’ Nato and the war in Ukraine. One of the announcements focused on ‘amendments’ on the equal rights of citizens. ‘Citizens of Russia and Belarus will be able to participate in local elections in both countries,’ Putin told reporters.

Belarus foreign minister dies suddenly - one day after meeting Pope's envoy Ante Jozić amid speculation they were discussing a secret peace plan in Ukraine. CAREER SPY Makei had been foreign minister for a decade and was due tomorrow and Monday to host Vladimir Putin's foreign minister Sergei Lavrov in Minsk. Lavrov's spokeswoman said Russia was 'shocked' at his passing. No cause of death was given - but several sources speculated that his demise could be suspicious. Makei was described as 'healthy'. He had been trained in the Soviet GRU and had a reputation as Lukashenko's 'grey cardinal'. While Lukashenko...

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has called on experts in his country to search for rare earth minerals, shortly after this set of elements shot to public prominence due to a possible mineral deal between the US and Ukraine. Lukashenko instructed his Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Shuleiko to ensure that Belarus is no longer geologically underdeveloped, state-run media reported. “It is the number one topic today,” the Belarusian president said, referring to rare earths, which are used in key 21st century industries such as renewable energy. “There are not a lot of them in the earth. Perhaps we have them as...

Vladimir Putin 'regrets' triggering a full-scale war costing hundreds of thousands of lives, his closest international ally has claimed. Belarus dictator Alexander Lukashenko said: 'We haven't talked about it, but I know him well. 'Putin didn't expect it would turn into such a war.' The close Putin crony told interviewer Mario Nawfal on X: 'When he saw a huge number of people dying, Putin instantly agreed to the negotiations to stop the conflict.' This was earlier in the war, in 2022, and, Lukashenko claimed, Putin was ready to negotiate 'on NATO, on demilitarisation, on denazification', as he described it, 'on...

Belarus’ incumbent President Alexander Lukashenko is winning the presidential election in the country with 87.6% of votes, according to an exit poll conducted by the Belarusian Youth Organizations Committee, APA reports citing TASS. According to the exit poll results, leader of the Liberal Democratic Party Oleg Gaidukevich is scoring 1.8% of the vote, entrepreneur Anna Kanopatskaya - 1.6%, first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party Sergey Syrankov - 2.7%, and leader of the Republican Party of Labor and Justice Alexander Khizhnyak - 1.2%. As many as 5.1% of voters cast their ballots against all. The exit poll...

There are times in history when countries are gripped by election fever. January 2025 in Belarus is not one of them. Drive around Minsk and you'll see no big billboards promoting the portraits of candidates. There is little campaigning. The grey skies and sleet of a Belarusian winter add to an overriding sense of inactivity. And inevitability. The outcome of the 2025 presidential election is not in doubt. Alexander Lukashenko, once dubbed "Europe's last dictator," who has ruled Belarus with an iron fist for more than 30 years, will be declared the winner and secure a seventh term in office....

A January 6th defendant on the run from the Biden Regime that was granted political asylum and refugee status by the President of Belarus is asking President Trump for help. In an exclusive interview with the Gateway Pundit, Evan Neumann of California is pleading with President Trump for a pardon so he can return home to United States to be with his two children. Neumann has spent the past 3 and a half years as a political refugee in Belarus after escaping Biden’s FBI and the Ukrainian SBU (Secret Service) by ditching his electronics and walking 18 hours through a...

Poland will not recognize Belarus’ upcoming presidential election, scheduled for January 26, upper-house Speaker Małgorzata Kidawa-Błońska said on Thursday. She made the statement after meeting in Warsaw with Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who is visiting Poland. Kidawa-Błońska called the planned election a "sham," and added that elections cannot be considered free when political opponents are jailed for seeking democracy. She said she hopes parliaments in other European countries will also refuse to recognize the vote. She emphasized the need to hold Belarusian strongman leader Alexander Lukashenko accountable for human rights abuses, insisting he must face consequences for his actions....

President Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus has said that more than a dozen Russian nuclear weapons have been moved to his country. On Tuesday in post on his Telegram account, he said "I brought nuclear warheads here. Not a few dozen of them." He continued, "Many people write: 'Oh, it's a joke, no one brought anything in.' They did. And the fact that they ... say that it's a joke means they missed it. They didn't even notice how we brought them in."

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that Moscow could deploy its Oreshnik intermediate-range ballistic missiles system in Belarus in the second half of 2025, Russian state media said. Putin was responding to a request by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko during a summit in Minsk. He said Belarus would determine the targets for Oreshniks deployed on its territory.

-snip- Belarus has played a part in Russia’s war. In February 2022 Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine was launched, partly, from Belarusian territory. Why did the country’s leader allow the Kremlin to do that? “How do you know I gave permission for Belarusian territory to be used?” Lukashenko asks me. “Because Belarusian territory was used [for the invasion].” “There were exercises going on involving several thousand Russian soldiers. Putin started withdrawing these troops from where they were in southern Belarus, down a road, along the border with Ukraine. "At one point he redirected some of these troops to Kyiv. I’m...