Putin opens talks with Belarus leader, no public mention of Ukraine
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Russian President Vladimir Putin (right) and his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko at the Kremlin on April 5. The two leaders are expected to discuss Mr Lukashenko’s call for an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine.
PHOTO: AFP
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MOSCOW – Russian President Vladimir Putin welcomed his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko to Moscow on Wednesday for two days of talks, but in their opening public remarks both men steered clear of the war in Ukraine.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said last week the two leaders would discuss Mr Lukashenko’s call for an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine.
In March, Mr Putin said Russia would deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus.
“I must say that we have done a lot as a result of our joint work in all areas,” Mr Putin told Mr Lukashenko, in comments broadcast by state television.
“We will discuss all of this tomorrow – this applies to our cooperation in the international arena and jointly solving questions of ensuring the security of our states.”
Moscow is Minsk’s closest political and financial backer. Mr Lukashenko allowed Mr Putin to use Belarus’ territory as a launch pad for the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Russia and Belarus are formally part of a Union State, a borderless union and alliance between the two former Soviet republics. Russia’s pre-war population was about 140 million, compared with just nine million for Belarus. REUTERS
