Putin meets Lukashenko far in the east - and continues to rail against Ukraine: "We had no choice"

Created: 04/12/2022, 12:14 p.m

By: Michelle Brey

Putin will meet with Belarusian ruler Lukashenko on Tuesday.

Negotiations in the Ukraine war continue.

The news ticker.

• Putin meets Lukashenko:

  The presidents of Russia and Belarus arrived in eastern Russia on Tuesday.

• Putin

  answers questions from

  media representatives

  : For the first time in the escalated Ukraine conflict*, the Kremlin chief speaks to journalists.

• This

  news ticker on the diplomatic negotiations on the Ukraine war

  is constantly updated.

  The background to the Ukraine crisis* is here.

Moscow/Munich - The Ukraine war continues.

A major offensive by Russian troops is expected in the east of the country.

There are reports from Mariupol about an alleged poison gas attack by Russia.

Kremlin boss Vladimir Putin* and the Belarusian ruler Alexander Lukashenko* have arrived for a meeting in the far east of Russia.

On the occasion of Space Day, they will visit the planned “Vostochny” spaceport near the Chinese border.

Ukraine war: Putin has “no doubt” about the success of “special operation”

During his visit, Putin once again showed himself confident of victory in view of the war.

The goals of the "special operation" would be achieved, he said, according to the Interfax agency.

"There is no doubt about that." He again defended his decision to invade the neighboring country as having no alternative.

The operation serves to ensure Russian security.

"We had no other choice," Putin said.

The conflict with the "anti-Russian forces in Ukraine" was only a matter of time.

In the past, however, many international experts had accused the Kremlin chief of only using the protection of Russian people in Ukraine as a pretext for the war.

Putin also stressed that Russia does not want to isolate itself from the rest of the world.

According to Putin, the sanctions with which the West reacted to the Russian invasion cannot isolate Russia.

Moscow will continue to expand its technical and technological potential - especially in space, he said.

Ukraine war: Lukashenko calls on Belarus to take part in negotiations again

The Kremlin boss wants to talk to Lukashenko, among other things, about including Minsk in the negotiations between Moscow and Kyiv*.

Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24.

Since then, Russian troops have attacked the country of President Volodymyr Zelenskyj*, also from Belarusian territory.

In March, the first talks between a Russian and a Ukrainian delegation took place in the border area of ​​the authoritarian former Soviet republic.

After another round of negotiations in Istanbul, Turkey, Lukashenko recently called for his country to take part in the talks again.

"We are in favor of our Belarusian friends continuing to play a positive role in the Russian-Ukrainian negotiations - and Belarus is an excellent platform for the continuation of such negotiations," Sergey Lavrov, Russian Foreign Minister, said on Friday (April 8). expressed on the topic.

Without Belarus, no solution is possible, Lavrov said.

Although he did not rule out other venues, he also advocated Belarus as a security guarantor for Ukraine.

However, Ukraine no longer sees Belarus as a neutral mediator.

Ukraine war: Putin wants to answer questions for the first time since the invasion

Putin is also scheduled to answer questions from media representatives on Tuesday for the first time since Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine began almost seven weeks ago.

Whether the Kremlin boss will answer questions about secured escape corridors for civilians or peace efforts, for example, remains open for the time being.

Most recently, Putin had met with the Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer - in Austria there was heavy criticism of the Chancellor's trip *.

You can read all the developments up to April 12 here.