The self-proclaimed President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko claimed that the government of Belarus and the Russian side will look into opening flights to Crimea, BelTA reported on Tuesday.
At a meeting on Tuesday, June 1, commenting on the closure of air traffic with Ukraine, Lukashenko said that Belarusian citizens still should be able to travel to the annexed Crimea for the vacation.
"Ukraine has closed its sky to us. We have our own resort in Crimea, in Miskhora, where people used to travel, to fly to all the time," he said, according to the report. "I don’t think there will be problems here - oh well, there are more open states that we can always get to Crimea through."
According to Lukashenko, he told Russian President Vladimir Putin during their meeting in Sochi that he "should think how we can get to Crimea. We can’t go through Poland, after all, they don’t let us through either."
The unrecognized President of Belarus said that the issue of opening flights to Crimea will be addressed in the near future.
Commenting on the consequences of the suspension of flights to Ukraine, Lukashenko noted that the economy has always been the foundation of Russian-Belarusian relations, while the organization of flights to Crimea also has a certain political subtext.
"Today, I would like to ask [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelensky: how to get to Crimea now? Only through Russia," Lukashenko said.
Therefore, the Belarusian leader believes he is "totally free" in this matter and "has no concerns".
"They created this mess, this borderline provocation. So, I believe I’m off the hook, as well as the rest of the Belarusians," the president noted.