Belarus will not formally merge with Russia in the near future, Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko said on March 14 while addressing the Russian Federation Council. "If we are going to burst through this open door,

Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko has declared that integration between Belarus and Russia must become irreversible.

Well, we don’t see such a passionate desire to talk to us, to Russia, and so on. Although I am not going to talk about it. Vladimir Vladimirovich [Putin] should do it. He has talked to them. They phoned him and told him things.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday praised the relationship between Russia and Belarus, two neighbours whose ties have grown ever closer since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine. Putin made the comments at a press conference in Moscow with the longtime ruler of Belarus,