Caught between Kyiv’s ultimatums and Moscow’s financial blackmail, Lukashenko faces mounting pressure over the war in Ukraine

Russia has stepped up pressure on Belarus this year in a bid to draw the country deeper into the war in Ukraine, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing current and former European and Russian officials.

According to those officials, Moscow wants to use Belarusian territory to expand drone strikes against Ukraine, pull a portion of Ukrainian forces away from Donbas, and conduct operations against NATO countries that border Belarus. ...