Self-proclaimed President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko had a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The head of the Kremlin, who due to fear to catch Covid-19, keeps everyone at a great distance, behaved differently with Lukashenko.
The corresponding video was published in the RIA Novosti Telegram channel.
Putin not only shook Lukashenko's hand but also hugged him. Such hugs look strange against the background of Putin's recent behavior - during visits to Russia of German Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French leader Emmanuel Macron, who had to sit at a six-meter table.
As previously reported by the press services of the leaders of the two countries, the topic of Putin's conversation with Lukashenko was the issue of European security.
According to Lukashenko, on Friday he has discussed with his Russian counterpart possible joint response measures to the aggressive actions by Western countries.
"Our today’s meeting with Vladimir Putin is held amid the unprecedented military-political tensions in the world and the president [Putin] has just said it. Bearing in mind the pressing situation, we with the president paid much attention to these problems and discussed our possible joint actions as a response to the aggressive behavior of Western partners," he said after talks with Putin.
"For the first time in decades, we, regrettably, find ourselves on the verge of a conflict which can draw the entire continent into it. We fully see now the irresponsibility and, excuse my language, the stupidity of a number of Western politicians, the illogical and unexplainable behavior of the leaders of neighboring countries, their nearly morbid impulse to walk a tightrope," he noted.
Neither Russians nor Belarusians "want a war, moreover, they don’t even want the aggravation of tensions, they don’t want any conflicts," Lukashenko stressed.