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An examination of language issues related to Belarus (even concerning its basic existence as a people, a culture, and especially as a nation) is very revealing about many things.
Language is, of course, a powerful tool in the mouths and pens of propagandists. (Even the view and use of the term propaganda is interesting. "Propaganda" has a very strong negative connotation in most western countries, but apparently not in the USSR, and its current countries and republics.)
If one wants to use language accurately and precisely, one must be very, very careful when using terms such as "Western Europe" and "Eastern Europe" in any current discussions of Europe, since such terms are used with a variety of meanings--often between participants in the same discussion--and more than likely inaccurately.
In the post-USSR era, terminology related to Belarus and its "location," in geographic terms, is not used with any consistency nor clarity. The attempt at polarizing the World into either the political East or West, and the concomitant political terms of the Cold War were often unthinkingly applied as though they were geographic terms, and are continued to be used in this manner today. The terms "Russia" and "Russian" were often used to refer to all of the peoples, languages, and cultures east of Poland, Hungary, etc.
In particular, the Cold War and its alignments "moved" Belarus further east, and after over fifty years of such imprecise language usage, to "move" Belarus back where it is located is no easy task--especially considering many of the same political forces (i.e., a "greater Russia") are still at work.
Relatively few people are aware that the recognized geographical center of Europe is not far from Belarus' northwestern border. As located and identified by the French Academy of Science, the center of Europe is north of Vilnius, Lithuania (Lithuania being the southernmost of the three Baltic republics).
Of course, it was of advantage to the Soviet Union to encourage mis-identification of Belarus as part of Russia. This of course, was a continuation of the policies of Czarist, Imperialist Russia, and in many ways, for Belarus, there was little difference between Czarist Russia and the USSR (in terms of the attempted destruction of Belarusian identity, culture, etc.). The Belarusian language and culture were replaced, often violently, with Russian equivalents. And for the Western powers to accede Belarus to being if not part of Russia, at least to be considered as part of its domain, allowed the West to "trade" for something more valuable to them.
During the Cold War in the US at least, the term "Russia" was often used as a synonym for "Soviet Union," and was actually the preferred term in many countries. While politically inaccurate, the terms "Russia" and "Russian," when used to refer to the USSR and its people, were actually more accurate and truthful in recognizing the Russian "cultural and linguistic imperialism" that is, the language and cultural values all the minority peoples of the Soviet Union were expected to replace for their own.
Today's successor state to both Czarist Russia and the USSR, the Russian Federation, continues its aims of politicial, cultural, and territorial domination of Belarus. (A little anecdote: While I worked in Belarus in 1997-98, I was shopping in a state store in Mensk, and the cashier, noting my accent in speaking Russian--speaking Belarusian is asking for trouble with the current regime--asked me how I liked "Russia" ! )
In addition, the term for central Europe virtually disappeared during the Cold War, with the term "Iron Curtain" separating "Eastern" Europe and "Russia" (further to the east) from the remainder of Europe. Such distortions continue to this day.
More than likely, it will take many years for the linguistic political legacy of the Cold War (and its inaccuracies) to disappear from discussions of the region.
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