MOSCOW (Reuters) - Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko said on Tuesday that the Crimean peninsula that Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014 was legally Russian territory, the RIA news agency reported, a stark change in his public stance.

       Belarus is a close ally of Russia, but did not recognise the peninsula as Russian after Moscow seized the territory. The annexation drew condemnation and sanctions from the West. Most of the world continues to recognise Crimea as Ukrainian territory. Kyiv wants it back.

       (Reporting by Polina Devitt; writing by Tom Balmforth; editing by Alex Richardson)