Assistant Secretary of State to meet with Lukashenko

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs Philip Gordon will travel to Belarus tomorrow where he will have a rare meeting with authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko. Lukashenko's government expelled U.S. diplomats last year after the U.S. imposed sanctions on Belarus.

The meeting comes amid signs of a warming in ties between the West and Lukashenko's Belarus, which was dubbed "Europe's last dictatorship" by the previous US administration of president George W. Bush.

It's a big week for talking to dictators. Senator Jim Webb is also planning a (presumably White House sanctioned) meeting with Burma's General Than Shwe.

Hat tip: The New Republic's Michael Crowley