President of Belarus Aleksandr Lukashenko has suggested that his counterparts in Russia and the US meet him in Minsk to discuss “all the problems” unfolding between their countries.
Speaking before lawmakers in parliament on Wednesday, President Aleksandr Lukashenko said US President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin should come to Belarus for “an honest and open discussion”, euronews writes.
“Let them talk about Belarus. Putin and I will discuss the United States on Friday. I just don’t know what things Biden is going to discuss about Belarus. Putin has a good grasp of the situation. I am concerned he does not know where Belarus is located. They are absolutely unfamiliar with the situation,” Lukashenko said.
He noted that if the leaders of the US and Russia want to discuss Belarus, they’d better do it in Minsk. Lukashenko is convinced that his Russian counterpart will be pleased to come to Belarus. “I want to invite them publicly: if they want to discuss Belarus, they can come to our country. We will properly welcome them and discuss all issues. I will even listen to all the nasty things that White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki will write for Biden to tell me. We will have an open conversation. To sit in Switzerland and lecture Putin on Belarus’ problems is ridiculous,” the president of Belarus added.
Lukashenko also appeared to joke about the flight diversion itself, asserting that Biden “could take a risk – we can easily land a plane, we have a runway.”
“I promise, we will escort him with fighter jets all the way from the Swiss border. There will be three jets, two on the sides and one on the back. If he wants, we can add one more aircraft protecting him from below,” Lukashenko said.
It should be reminded that a plane belonging to Ryanair, an Irish airline that flew from Athens to Vilnius on May 23, landed at Minsk Airport. Former editor-in-chief of the Telegram channel Nexta, Roman Protasevich, was illegally detained before the plane was allowed to resume its flight.
