Russia Denies Pressuring Belarus to Broaden Ukraine War

Belarus, meanwhile, said that it was the West that was trying to draw it into the war.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko in Minsk, Belarus, on May 24, 2024. Mikhail Metzel/Sputnik/pool via Reuters

Russia, on June 25, denied putting pressure on its ally Belarus to support an expansion of the war in Ukraine.

The denial came in response to a June 24 report by The Wall Street Journal claiming that Moscow wanted to use its neighbor as a springboard to step up attacks on Kyiv, and that the Kremlin was threatening to cut financial support to Minsk if it did not agree.