In a ritual that is becoming as frequent as it is increasingly empty, Alyaksandr Lukashenka is heading to Russia yet again to meet with Vladimir Putin.
Citing unidentified officials in Moscow and Minsk, the Russian daily Kommersant reported that preparations are being made for the beleaguered Belarusian strongman and the Kremlin leader to meet at the end of May. It will be their third in-person meeting in just over three months.
But even as the frequency of summits between Putin and Lukashenka increases (they met in Sochi on February 22 and in Moscow on April 22), the actual substance of what they discuss and agree upon has become increasingly obscure.
In their Sochi summit in February, we know that the two leaders went skiing, rode snowmobiles, and lauded their “strategic partnership and alliance.” But after a six-hour meeting and a follow-up phone call the next day, it remained unclear where this relationship between Europe’s last two autocrats actually stood.