On Friday, the first anniversary of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko stated he had a long talk with Putin. “I’ll tell you a secret, yesterday night, he and I chatted for a long time on numerous themes,” Lukashenko told reporters on his press service’s social media account.
The Kremlin is silent on the conversation.
During widespread protests against a 2020 presidential election that the Belarus opposition and Western nations accused Lukashenko of manipulating, Putin supported him.
Lukashenko denied election rigging and blamed the West for sponsoring demonstrators. He allowed Putin to invade Belarus and train newly mobilized troops in Belarus during his year-long war with Ukraine.
Ukraine’s army, fighting Russia in the south and east, has also had to move soldiers to cover its northern flank in case Belarus intervenes directly in favor of Moscow, something Lukashenko vows it won’t do unless attacked by Ukraine.
Lukashenko denied media allegations this week that Russia had planned to take Belarus by 2030. Russia and Belarus are allies in a “Union State” in which Moscow dominates. “Ignore this bullshit. It divided us, “quote.
Comment Template