For decades, the foreign policy of the Republic of Belarus resembled a pendulum game between East and West. But following the crackdown on the peaceful protests in 2020, the "Ryanair incident" and the artificial migration crisis, the regime isolated itself from the West. Lukashenka's complicity in Russia's war of aggression also severed traditionally important ties with Ukraine. In the shadow of Moscow's crushing dominance, Minsk has recently made efforts to deepen its relations with countries of Central Asia, China and Iran. It remains to be seen how Lukashenka's "mediation" in the Wagner uprising will affect his foreign policy leeway.
