Free Republic

Belarus has started military exercises by the city of Brest near the Polish border, its capital Minsk and the northeast region of Vitebsk, the defence ministry said on Thursday. Belarus, a close ally of Russia, said the exercises, located just 20 miles from Ukraine's border and six miles from Poland, will practice 'liberating territory temporarily seized by the enemy' and regaining control over border regions. Russian President Vladimir Putin used similar rhetoric to justify his invasion of Ukraine earlier this year and had staged wargames near the border before sending his troops into battle.

Vladimir Putin has approved a 31-page "humanitarian policy" which says Russia should "protect, safeguard and advance the traditions and ideals of the Russian World". The foreign policy concept of a "Russian World" is a notion that hardliners have used to justify intervening abroad to support Russian speakers, such as in parts of Ukraine. It means that the idea is now enshrined in official policy, though it was presented as a soft power strategy. The new policy stated that Moscow should further deepen its ties with the self-styled Donetsk People's Republic and the Luhansk People's Republic - two breakaway entities in...