Holiday in Sochi: What Lukashenka wants from Putin?


Belarus president Aliaksandr Lukashenka is having a short-term vacation in Russia’s Sochi, the presidential press service reports.

In Sochi the president will get familiar with the progress in the development of the Belarusian sports and tourism infrastructure and hold a number of meetings. In particular, the Belarusian head of state is expected to meet with President of Russia Vladimir Putin, state-run news agency BelTA says.

 “Such meeting is being prepared,” Putin’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov told ria.ru. He did not specify when the talks would be held. Peskov only noted that ‘issues of bilateral relations’ would be discussed at the meeting.

At the recent press conference Lukashenka stressed he was not going to give land away to anyone. “If one believes that Belarus is part of some “Russian world” – you will see it only in your dreams!” he said.

At that, Lukashenka emphasized that he was not afraid of Vladimir Putin. “When someone started bothering me with questions about Putin coming and seizing part of our territory, I responded jokingly that we have more grounds to claim Russia’s lands,” Lukashenka said.

He also mentioned the possibility of Russia’s granting financial aid to Belarus, which was later confirmed by Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov.

www.belsat.eu/en

TWITTER