Meeting with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu

Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko met with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu on 3 February.

“I have recently met with your compatriots as the head of the Tyva administration came to Belarus on a visit. We discussed a lot of things, we also talked a lot about you. The thing is that we are set to open some joint ventures there, including in the defense industry. I got an impression that your compatriots are ready to cooperate with Belarus. This is good. I would like to go there. Vladimir Putin has told me a lot of things about this region. He keeps inviting me to visit it. He loves this place and often mentions his trips there,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.

“Therefore, I want to go there and see these beautiful and unique natural landscapes with my own eyes. I might as well travel to the Far East as the Russian President suggested. He says that there are many interesting things to see there. For me, Kamchatka, Sakhalin are fabulous places. I have no idea how these places look in reality. Like outer space. Therefore, he has been inviting me to go there for probably five years already. I will eventually find time to visit these good, friendly regions populated by our kin people,” the Belarusian leader added.