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Is a Putin Ally in Belarus Making a Cautious Overture to the West?

President Aleksandr G. Lukashenko of Belarus keeps arresting political opponents, but analysts wonder if a string of unusual pardons is a bid to get sanctions eased.

© Nanna Heitmann for The New York Times

Amid rising expectations for cease-fire talks in the war between Russia and Ukraine, President Aleksandr G. Lukashenko of Belarus appears to be trying to reboot his relations with the West, analysts say.

A Canceled Vote in Romania Hands Russia a Propaganda Coup

Many in the West have applauded the annulling of the first round of the presidential election, won by a Moscow-friendly candidate, but even his critics say it raises troubling questions about Romanian democracy.

© Robert Ghement/EPA, via Shutterstock

A polling station in the Romanian capital, Bucharest, on Oct. 24, the first round of presidential elections.

‘Nutcracker’ Is a Casualty of a ‘Quarantine’ of Russian Culture in Lithuania

Lithuania’s national opera house had stopped showing Tchaikovsky’s 1892 masterpiece in solidarity with Ukraine over the war with Russia. Then a new minister expressed fondness for the Russian composer, igniting a furor.

© Andrej Vasilenko for The New York Times

Lithuanian’s National Opera and Ballet Theater during intermission at the ballet “Les Millions d’Arlequin” in Vilnius this month.
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