'Deployment of Russian airbase in Belarus has never been discussed'. Lukashenka backtracks?


The deployment of a Russian airbase in Belarus has never been discussed, Belarusian president Alyaksandr Lukashenka said on Tuesday.

“Our opposition has been wailing about the deployment of a Russian airbase in Belarus lately. I know nothing about such plans. I am the man in charge of making such decisions and I know nothing about such plans.We don’t need a base these days. We don’t need military air forces either. We need certain weapons. It is what I’ve been saying to Putin and earlier to Medvedev,” state-run news agency BelTA quotes the Belarusian leader as saying.

At the same time, Lukashenka stresses that Belarus is the Russian Federation’s closest ally but feels offended at certain ‘media leaks’.

Read more: ‘Lukashenka Is War’. Protests against Russian military base in Belarus

“Why would Russians have to leak it to mass media now? Are they concerned we are going to ally with the West? Are they trying to get the West to question us and doubt our intentions to normalize relations with the West?” Alyaksandr Lukashenka wondered.

Belsat, via BelTA

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