Credit: Wikipedia /  Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin is a Russian politician and a former officer of the KGB who has served as President of Russia since 2012

By Gary Raynaldo     DIPLOMATIC TIMES

Russia is poised to take advantage of the chaos in Belarus following Sunday’s disputed presidential election to pull Minsk deeper into its sphere of influence. Belarus main opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya  fled the country Tuesday in  the aftermath of the  disputed presidential elections.  Tikhanovskaya reportedly left Belarus and is in Lithuania after she asserted that the re-election of incumbent President Alexander Grigoryevich Lukashenko  was fraudulent.  Critics  immediately denounced Lukashenko’s landslide victory as being rigged and mass protests erupted with thousands taking to the streets of capital city Minsk and across the country to vent frustration. The European Union immediately condemned  the  elections  for the  “disproportionate and unacceptable state violence against peaceful protesters”.   U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) called on the White House Wednesday to withdraw its nominee to be the U.S. ambassador to Belarus amid the  widely disputed presidential election.   US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the US was “deeply concerned” about the election process, which he said was neither free nor fair.

Russian President Putin Congratulates Lukashenko and offers support 

The Kremlin send kind regards to Minsk after the elections.  Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated Lukashenko and said Sunday’s vote “undoubtedly meets the fundamental interests of the fraternal peoples of Russia and Belarus,” and promised “mutually beneficial Russian-Belarusian relations in all areas.”   Political observers note that Belarus is too dependent on Russia to break ties with Moscow and integrate with the West.  Lukashenko has held power in the former Soviet republic for 26 years, but his grip on power is threatened by the massive protests that have erupted after the  elections.  With Moscow solidly behind Lukashenko he has no incentive to cave into pressure from the West, and may even step up repression of opposition and protesters.