Lukashenko will come to Moscow on Friday for talks with Putin

Belarusian authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko said that on Friday he will meet Vladimir Putin in the Moscow region and discuss with the Russian president the development of integration within the framework of the Union State, as well as security and defense issues.

The upcoming visit of Lukashenko was also confirmed by Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov. According to him, a “detailed discussion” is expected.

The day before, reports began to appear in pro-Kremlin Telegram channels that Putin’s upcoming February 21 message to the Federal Assembly may contain integration initiatives – up to the creation of a state entity with the participation of Russia, Belarus, as well as self-proclaimed Abkhazia and South Ossetia. A number of mass media reported that the heads of these republics recognized only by Russia and several other countries have either already arrived or will arrive in Moscow. Peskov said that Putin’s schedule does not include a meeting with the president of Abkhazia.

Lukashenko met with foreign journalists in Minsk on Thursday. He did not comment on Telegram channels’ publications about the possibility of creating the so-called “USSR 2.0”. Speaking about the war in Ukraine, Lukashenko refused to call Russia’s actions an “invasion” and accused Ukraine and Western countries of starting the war. At the same time, he said that Belarus “is not going to introduce its troops into the territory of Ukraine”, and the Belarusian army will join the war only in the event of aggression from Ukraine. According to him, the Russian military is stationed in Belarus only to protect the country. Lukashenko also said that Belarus does not intend to declare mobilization, and called on the country’s citizens to “live peacefully”.

Lukashenko also confirmed that the country’s Air Force has aircraft capable of carrying tactical nuclear weapons. He denied the possibility of placing strategic nuclear weapons in Belarus, said that Minsk has no plans to launch a nuclear attack on the USA.

The territory of Belarus is used by the Russian military in military operations against Ukraine, but now it is much less active than in the first weeks of the war, when the offensive on Kyiv was carried out from Belarusian territory. The intelligence of Western countries and Ukraine believes that an attack from Belarusian territory, although possible, is unlikely at the moment.