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The President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko

Alexander Grigoryevich Lukashenko has been president of Belarus since 1994. Before entering the said today that his country is inclined to provide additional assistance to its close ally Russia in its war against Ukraine, reports BTA.

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Russia does not need "any help" right now, but if that changes, Belarus is always ready to provide assistance to its Russian brothers, Lukashenko stressed during his visit to Zimbabwe, a country in South Africa that also is close to Russia.

Lukashenko did not give more information about the kind of help he is ready to provide.

Putin wants the establishment of joint military training centers with Belarus

Belarus allowed Russia to use part of its territory in its invasion of Ukraine in February last year and has become a staging ground for Russian missiles to be launched against Ukraine.

However, she did not send her troops to the war.

The two countries held joint military exercises on the territory of Belarus this month.

Ukraine, for its part, has deployed its units along the border with Belarus to prevent a potential invasion from there.

The Pentagon claims that there is no movement of Russian troops in Belarus that would indicate an imminent attack.

Analysts say that if Belarus's small and inexperienced army joins the conflict, the additional troops may help Moscow cut off some key thoroughfares, but are unlikely to significantly improve Russia's position.

Lukashenko arrived in Zimbabwe yesterday on a visit to strengthen economic and political ties between the two countries, AP notes.

The visit aims to reinforce "the strong cooperation between the two countries in politics, economics, mining, agriculture and disaster management," according to Zimbabwe's foreign ministry.

Belarus has provided Zimbabwe with agricultural machinery, such as tractors, combine harvesters and trucks, under a deal worth tens of millions of dollars, struck after Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa's visit to Minsk in 2019.

Belarus and Zimbabwe signed several agreements today in various fields, from agriculture to taxation and education.

Lukashenko also offered to sell potash fertilizers to Zimbabwe, adding that despite Western sanctions, Belarus "has managed to sell large quantities of potash fertilizers. There are countries ready to cooperate with Belarus," he said.

Lukashenko is visiting Zimbabwe after Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov recently toured the African continent.

Last week, Lavrov visited South Africa, Eswatini, Angola and Eritrea, using some of Moscow's historic ties to the continent to drum up support for Russia and blame the West for the war in Ukraine.

Russian invasion of Ukraine

Alexander Lukashenko

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