Lukashenko secretly met with Putin at Valdai
Kyiv • UNN
Self-proclaimed president of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko held an unannounced meeting with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin at a residence in Valdai. Information about the meeting was made public after Lukashenko returned to Belarus.
Self-proclaimed president of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko met with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin at the latter's residence in Valdai. This is reported by UNN with reference to the Russian opposition Agency. News.
Details
It is noted that Minsk and the Kremlin released information about the meeting only after Lukashenko had likely returned to Belarus.
The first official report about Lukashenko's trip to Russia appeared at 4:00 PM Moscow time on the Telegram channel of the press service of the Belarusian president, Pool of the First. The message stated that "the agenda of Belarusian-Russian cooperation includes the situation in the region and the world"
It is indicated that two hours later, Pool of the First reported that the meeting in a "tete-a-tete format had begun." The channel also posted a video of Lukashenko's arrival at an unnamed airport.
According to the OSINT analysis of the "Agency", the airfield in the video resembles "Khotilovo-2". This is evidenced by the configuration of the site, the caponier visible behind the Il-96, and the buildings with pipes in the background of Lukashenko
Later, the Kremlin confirmed the information about the meeting between Putin and Lukashenko in Valdai. Press secretary of the Russian dictator Dmitry Peskov clarified that the leaders discussed the agenda of the Union State, trade and economic cooperation, and regional security. According to him, the presidents will not make statements following the meeting.
Context
The day before, Belarusian Lukashenko stated that he recently had meetings with representatives of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. According to Lukashenko, he told the Ukrainians that "it will not be possible to drag Belarus into the war."
A day earlier, The Wall Street Journal reported that Russia is pressuring Belarus to use it as a springboard in the war against Ukraine or for operations against NATO.