Moscow [Russia], July 24: Russian President Vladimir Putin welcomed Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko for a visit to Russia on Sunday.
Putin said the visit would continue through Monday. The two leaders visited a Russian naval museum not far from St Petersburg on Sunday.
Lukashenko, the authoritarian leader of Belarus, is considered Putin's most important ally in Russia's war against Ukraine.
Although Belarus has not directly joined the fighting, Russian troops have made extensive use of Belarusian territory, including to launch missiles at Ukraine.
On Sunday, Lukashenko suggested that Wagner mercenary fighters are eager to cross the border into Poland, a NATO member and strong supporter of Ukraine.
The Wagner troops relocated to camps in Belarus after a brief failed uprising against Moscow in June.
"The Wagner guys have started to bother us," he said. The mercenaries "want to take a trip to Warsaw and Rzeszow." Both cities are in Poland.
Lukashenko assured that the mercenaries would remain in central Belarus. Poland's government previously expressed alarm that the Russian mercenary troops were now in the neighbouring country and is moving additional Polish troops towards the border with Belarus.
Putin and Lukashenko also played down the ongoing Ukrainian counteroffensive during their public remarks on Sunday.
"There is no counteroffensive," Lukashenko quipped.
"There is," Putin replied, "But it has failed."
Ukrainian troops have made slow progress in their much anticipated counteroffensive against Russian-occupied positions, which began several weeks ago.
Source: Qatar Tribune
