Are Belarus and Russia allies? Is country in NATO, population and does it support Russian invasion of Ukraine

Nations have come together to impose sanctions on Russia after they launched a full-on invasion of Ukraine.

While there has been resounding condemnation from the international community, Russia does have allies that they have relied on during their offence so far.

Belarus has been a long-term ally of Russia - but where does the country stand now that their neighbours have invaded Ukraine.

Here’s everything you need to know about Russia and Belarus’ relationship.

Belarus is a landlocked country in eastern Europe.

The nation it bordered to Lithuania and Latvia to the north, Poland to the west and Ukraine to the South.

It’s largest bordering country is Russia to the east.

The country was formerly a member of the Soviet Union.

The country’s president is Alexander Lukashenko, who has served 1994.

This makes him the longest serving European leader.

Belarus has remained close to Russia in political terms since the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.

The two nations often engage in joint military activities and over the years there have been several treaties agreed upon between Belarus and Russia.

Belarus is a member of the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO), with President Lukashenko making direct reference to this after a recent meeting with President Putin.

In that meeting with President Putin, Lukashenko committed Belarus’ allyship to Russia in the conflict with Ukraine.

This is believed to be because of concerns over NATO's expansion on not only Russia’s borders but on Belarus’ border.

During the invasion in the early hours of 24 February, Russian troops used a strategic position in Belarus to move into Ukraine.

As a result of its role in the invasion, Belarus was hit with sanctions from the UK as they unveiled restrictions on Russia.

There are currently 9.3million people in Belarus.

This makes the country the 20th most populous country in Europe.

The official languages of Belarus are Belarusian and Russian.

However a mix of others, including Ukrainian and Polish, are also spoken within the region.

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