At least four - and probably many more - English-language journalists say Putin’s meeting with Lukashenko in Sochi on Monday could determine the outcome of the revolution in Belarus.
That’s a problem, because western journalists are not there.
Putin Holds the Keys to Belarus Crisis, Shaun Walker for The Guardian:
Crushing Democracy in Belarus, Vlad Davidzon, Atlantic Council expert:
What’s the Endgame for Belarus? Andrew Higgins for The New York Times:
Belarus Will Never Be the Same Again, Fred Weir for The Christian Science Monitor:
Russophile and Sovietophile interpolations of events in Belarus are passé. What happens next does not hinge on what Putin and Lukashenko talk about in Sochi. The next chapter of Belarusian history will not be written in Moscow. Decoys, deflections, pins and interference are unlikely to spook people who could care less about what the Kremlin has concluded.