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Russian President Vladimir Putin

Vladimir Putin - Russian politician.

Born on October 7, 1952 in Leningrad, now St. Petersburg, Prez said at a joint press conference after today's meeting with his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko

Alexander Grigoryevich Lukashenko has been the president of Belarus since 1994. Before entering Minsk, Russia did not want to absorb Belarus.

The Russian leader added that the "enemy", which he did not name, wants to prevent integration between the two countries, Reuters reported.

"Russia has no interest in absorbing anyone," Putin said.

"There is simply no expediency in such a thing," he said at the press conference with Lukashenko.

The Belarusian president, for his part, called his Russian counterpart "an older brother" and praised Russia for reaching out to his country, providing it with oil and gas at preferential prices.

In February, Moscow used the territory of Belarus as a springboard for the failed advance of the Russian army towards Kyiv, and in recent months joint Russian-Belarusian military activity has been observed, notes Reuters.

The Chief of the Joint Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Gen.

Sergiy Naev said that, in his opinion, the subject of today's talks between Putin and Lukashenko will be "further aggression against Ukraine and the broader participation of the Belarusian armed forces in the operation against Ukraine."

He added that, in the opinion of the Ukrainian military, it is also about the participation of Belarusian troops "on the ground".

Putin arrived on a visit to Belarus

None of the journalists present at the general press conference asked Putin and Lukashenko - who has repeatedly said his country will not be drawn into the conflict in Ukraine - a question about the war.

Their responses were generally devoted to the ever-closer economic and defense rapprochement between their countries (which are officially in a union with each other known as the Commonwealth of Nations) and yesterday's World Cup final in Qatar, noted Reuters, quoted by BTA.

Vladimir Putin

Alexander Lukashenko

Belarus