Leaders of four former Soviet Union republics have firmly condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko reportedly have plans to strengthen their « Union State » and are looking to attract other former members of the dissolved Soviet Union, but the likelihood of other ex-USSR republics joining seems low in the face of the Ukrainian invasion. Belarus has remained one of Russia’s top allies since the start of the Russia-Ukraine War in late February, which drew condemnation from around the globe. But reports from Belarus’ state-owned BelTA news agency indicate that Lukashenko and Putin are interested in taking the relationship between their countries to a more cooperative level in a move reminiscent of the former USSR, though authorities have yet to confirm these reports. « We are building a single Union State on the new principles to ensure that everyone’s interests are respected, that the sovereign independent states—Belarus and Russia—keep developing. I am sure that this union will attract other republics of the former Soviet Union, » BelTA quoted Lukashenko as saying during a meeting with Governor of Russia’s Voronezh Oblast Aleksandr Gusev in Minsk on Thursday. The Soviet Union was established in December 1922 and eventually grew to encompass 15 nations: Russia, Ukraine, Georgia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, according to History.com. Leaders of four former Soviet Union nations have firmly condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, making it unlikely that they would be willing to join a new iteration of the USSR.
