A leaked document from Russian President Vladimir Putin's executive office reportedly details a plan to fully annex the country's ally, Belarus, in less than 10 years.

The "internal strategy paper" is 17 pages long and was recently obtained by several European news outlets and Western intelligence officers, who described the document as "authentic and plausible," according to The Telegraph.

The project, known as the "Union State," was first created in 1999 but shelved until Belarus recently asked for a discount on Russian oil imports.

The plan would have the Kremlin take control of Belarus — a country of 9.3 million people that was a state within the Soviet Union up until 1990 — by the year 2030. This would involve the "harmonization" of Belarusian laws to match Russia's, creating a "coordinated foreign and defense policy," as well as "trade and economic cooperation" prioritizing Russian interests and "ensuring the predominant influence of the Russian Federation in the socio-political, trade-economic, scientific-educational and cultural-information spheres."

The two countries are currently working on an agreement for "political integration" within the next two years.

"Russia's goals with regards to Belarus are the same as with Ukraine," Michael Carpenter, the U.S. ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, said in a statement to Yahoo News. "Only in Belarus, it relies on coercion rather than war. Its end goal is still wholesale incorporation."

"The 'Union State' is a threat for the Belarusian people and Belarusian statehood," added Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, the exiled leader of the opposition in Belarus who was forced to flee to Lithuania after contesting the results of the previous election. "It is not a union of equals.

"It is a roadmap for the absorption of Belarus by Russia. Since our goal is to return Belarus to the path of democracy, it will be impossible to do so in a Union State with Russia."

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