Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko is sticking with pal Vladimir Putin despite an explosive leak of a Kremlin planning document this week that reportedly showed Moscow plotting to take over and annex Belarus within the next few years. Speaking to reporters on Saturday, Lukashenko dismissed the widespread media coverage of the takeover plot as nothing more than an attempt to tear the two allies apart. “They just want to sever us. That’s why this topic has come up,” he was quoted saying by the state-run Belta news agency. But oddly enough, he appeared to confirm that the 2021 takeover document—which outlined the Kremlin’s strategy to seize full control of Belarus by 2030—was genuine. He attributed the document to earlier discussions between Moscow and Minsk on integration programs meant to tighten the two countries’ relations. “Maybe some officials, a group of people, were suggesting in the [Russian] presidential administration which way to go with Belarus," he said, without elaborating on why Russian officials would float the idea of annexing Belarus. “The document is ancient. Besides, no one hid it, probably,” he said, boasting that Belarus is the only “independent, sovereign” nation standing with Russia.
