Russia and Belarus have agreed to jointly counter “the West’s destructive activities” aimed at “destabilizing the situation” in the United State of Russia and Belarus. The high-level meeting came just over a week after Belarus hijacked a European plane to seize opposition journalist Roman Protasevich. This brazen act of air piracy resulted in consequences for Belarus, though none for Russia, despite widespread acknowledgement that Belarusian dictator Aleksandr Lukashenko would not have acted without at very least permission from Moscow, and despite the Director of Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service boasting of just such close cooperation.
