Lukashenko denies presence of North Korean troops in Russia

Following reports of North Korean troops deployed in Russia, Belarus’ leader said no one had seen any Pyongyang soldiers on the frontline with Ukraine, accusing the West of “inflating the fact”, which may lead to escalation. 

“They are inflating it for what? To finally put pressure on the European Union and introduce NATO troops into (the war in Ukraine),” President Alexander Lukashenko said at the Minsk International Conference on Eurasian Security. 

All sides of the conflict should “sit down at the negotiation table without any preconditions,” he added. 

Belarus has been a staunch supporter of Russia since Lukashenko, dubbed “Europe’s last dictator,” came into power three decades ago. His regime has been placed under a string of Western sanctions due to Lukashenko’s response to the 2020 elections in the country, which have been fraudulent, and the subsequent large-scale violent crackdown on opposition.

Reliant on Russian loans and cheap energy, Lukashenko’s political and military alliance with the Kremlin has allowed Russian President Vladimir Putin to station troops and missiles in the neighbouring country, using it as a staging area for Moscow’s war in Ukraine.

Lavrov dubs Zelenskyy’s peace formula ‘stupid’

Also speaking at the conference in Minsk was Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who announced that Moscow plans to sign a treaty “on comprehensive strategic partnership” with Iran in the near future. 

“It will confirm the parties’ desire for closer cooperation in the field of defence and for interaction in the interests of peace and security at the regional and global levels,” Lavrov said. 

He called the peace formula of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy a “dead-end” and “stupid” and described his recently unveiled victory plan as “schizophrenic”. 

“Stability in this part of the Eurasian continent will be achieved only if long-term reliable guarantees in the security sphere are provided,” Lavrov said. 

Moscow has not provided any evidence to back its claims of NATO or the West’s intentions to act aggressively towards Russia or its troops, one of the Kremlin’s main alleged reasons for its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in early 2022.