Crackdown Imperils Western Efforts to Decrease Russia’s Sway in Belarus

The rapprochement between the West and Belarus, Moscow’s restive ally, is hitting recent turbulence as outrage grows over arrests of the country’s opposition leaders and its mishandling of the coronavirus pandemic.

Europe’s longest-serving chief, in energy since 1994, President Alexander Lukashenkobegan relationship Washington and the European Union after Russia invaded neighboring Ukraine in 2014. Desirous to contain Moscow’s geopolitical sway and grateful for Mr. Lukashenko’s refusal to permit Russian militia bases, Western countries…