Belarus' Lukashenko invites Joe Biden to Minsk to 'end war' ahead of meeting with Putin

President of the Republic of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, a steadfast ally of Russia's President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday is expected to meet his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin at the Novo-Ogaryovo on Friday, Russia's state-owned news outlet RIA Novosti and Belarusian state news agency BelTA reported. The two will discuss "security and defense issues" of mutual interest, as well as economic, military, and political issues. "And if we come to the issue of our joint grouping in Belarus, of course, we will discuss this as well,” Lukashenko said. 

'Ready to receive Biden in Minsk': Lukashenko

The Belarusian leader, during a press call, commented on US President Joe Biden's upcoming visit to Poland saying that he should instead come to Minsk and meet with Russia's President Vladimir Putin to "stop the war." "Why is Biden going to Poland? Why exactly to Poland? But we are not too worried about this. If he wishes to do so [you can tell him through your channels there], we are ready to receive him in Minsk and have a serious conversation. If he wants peace in Ukraine," said Lukashenko according to his speech cited by BelTA, transcribed in the English language. The Belarusian leader stated that if Biden is a "peace-loving" president, he must instead worry about negotiating a truce over pumping weapons in the war. The former offered to send a plane to escort Biden to Minsk. 

"All three of us will meet here: two aggressors and a peace-loving president. Why not?  For the sake of ending the war. If he wants to end the war [I'll send a Boeing plane from Poland to here if necessary], we will welcome him," said Putin's ally. 

"And right here, in your presence, the three of us [I guarantee you that Vladimir Putin will come here] will sit down and solve the whole problem. We will solve all the problems here," Lukashenko stressed, adding that he will provide "complete security and comfort," and that the US President will leave Minsk "fully satisfied after the conversation. Biden would not come and "stay in Poland," Lukashenko claimed. He then underscored the regional grouping of Russian and Belarusian troops, emphasizing that the Russian military "is not in Belarus to attack Ukraine" as claimed by the latter. The Belarusian leader reiterated that the Russian-Belarusian troops undergo combat coordination and military drills to prepare for readiness and, if necessary, "to repel aggression against Belarus."

“If aggression is suddenly committed against Belarus, President Putin and I have agreed that this division will be placed at my disposal and is already fighting in a joint grouping of Belarus and Russia,” the head of Belarus was quoted as saying by BelTA. 

'We fly jets just as Americans fly along our border': Belarusian President

Lukashenko further stated that Russia and his government have maintained transparency since the military intervention of Kyiv. “We have it all spelled out, scheduled so that the Americans would not reproach us later that we were hiding something. We clearly understand how many tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, the number of people, and so on will be,” he told reporters. The Belarusian President acknowledged that there's a large grouping of Air Force and air defense troops from both ally countries that have been deployed in Belarus. "They are at my airfields. This was my most severe demand: no matter how difficult it is in Ukraine, but what is prescribed in a joint grouping should be in Belarus," he noted. 

"Just as the Americans fly along our border in Poland, so today we fly along and across our country with the Russians. We rely on Russian aviation intelligence, and this A-50 reconnaissance aircraft has also been deployed here. You have seen the US scouts flying along our border. They don't come close, but they spy. We fly in response, train our group. And so it will continue," asserted Lukashenko.