dpa
Moscow
Belarusian ruler Alexander Lukashenko greeted Vladimir Putin at the airport in Minsk, where the red carpet was rolled out on the tarmac for the Russian leader’s first visit in three years, hours after Moscow struck more infrastructure sites in Ukraine.
Pictures from the pro-government Belarusian Telegram channel Pul Pervogo (Pool One) showed the reception at the airport on Monday afternoon, which included the traditional welcoming gift of bread and salt.
The two former Soviet republics are close allies, with Lukashenko’s government completely dependent on Moscow politically, economically and militarily following sanctions imposed by the West.
While contacts between the two leaders are frequent, this marks Putin’s first visit to Belarus since 2019.
Before the visit, Lukashenko had announced that it would primarily be about deepening economic cooperation.
From Moscow’s side, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov rejected speculation that Russia would press its western neighbour to join the war against Ukraine.
Speculation has simmered about a possible entry of Minsk into the war. Lukashenko has always denied such intentions, while at the same time he has intensified military cooperation with Russia.
At the start of the war in February, Russian units had also invaded Ukraine from Belarusian territory.
The Russian news agency Interfax reported that Russian troops began performing military manoeuvres in Belarus on Monday. The troops belong to a joint Belarusian-Russian unit recently created and who are training at the battalion level. About 9,000 Russian troops are in the unit.
Ahead of Putin’s arrival, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu flew to Belarus for talks.
Lavrov spoke with counterpart Sergei Aleinik - who took up the post of foreign minister just a few days ago - about the war, according to the Foreign Ministry in Moscow.
They also discussed how Russia and Belarus could defend themselves against political pressure from sanctions imposed by the West, the statement said.
The Belarusian Foreign Ministry’s statement on the meeting between Lavrov and Aleinik mentioned that sanctions had been a topic, but did not reference Ukraine.
Russia targeted Kiev and the surrounding area with Iranian military drones early on Monday, according to officials in Kiev.
Critical infrastructure was damaged in the Ukrainian capital once again, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said.
Technicians were trying to stabilize electricity and heating supplies amid the freezing winter weather. In some neighbourhoods, power was switched off as an emergency measure.
Residents reported having heard the sound of drones and anti-aircraft fire above the city overnight.
Kiev alone was attacked by more than 20 Iranian-made combat drones, according to the Ukrainian military. About 15 of them were shot down by air defence.
Another 10 drones were intercepted in the south of Ukraine, it said.
Aside from drone attacks, the secretary of Ukraine’s national security and defence council said that Russia probably only has enough missiles left for a few more salvos targeting Ukrainian infrastructure.
“If you count up their major attacks, then they only have two or three left. Maybe they can pull together four,” Oleksiy Danilov said in an interview with the online newspaper Ukrainska Pravda (Ukrainian Truth). Once it fired those off, it would have nothing left on reserve.
However, Danilov said about a month ago that he thought there would only be three to four more Russian missile barrages. Since then, Russia has unleashed three more waves, with about 70 missiles in total. According to Ukrainian projections, Russia can produce about 70 missiles and cruise missiles a month, despite Western sanctions.
