From Heritage: “The other day, Minsk unveiled the likelihood of introducing border and customs controls on the Russian border. This move actually signifies an end of the unified state project. Lukashenko is clearly looking to the EU’s support in his standoff against Moscow and is counting on the Kremlin’s deep appreciation of Belarus’ geopolitical position and military potential to contain NATO. No matter the Moscow-Minsk standoff’s outcome, Russia is clearly losing its chief and only ally in Eastern Europe.”