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Lukashenko chides ‘unneeded’ Russian airbase plan in Belarus as ‘ill-conceived PR move’

Belarus currently accommodates two Russian military facilities

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko Yekaterina Shtukina/Russian Government Press Office/TASS

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko

© Yekaterina Shtukina/Russian Government Press Office/TASS

MINSK, December 14. /TASS/. The issue of accommodating a Russian airbase on the territory of Belarus is not on the agenda, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said at a meeting with media outlets from Russia on Friday.

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"No one needs this base. (No need to) build some base at an old airfield. I ask [Russian President Vladimir] Putin a question: aircraft from Russia will have a flight time of 3-4 minutes. Why is it necessary to bring the airfield to the front line, if a war begins? One missile would be enough to finish off the runway," the Belarusian leader said.

"This is some ill-conceived PR move," Lukashenko remarked.

Belarus currently accommodates two Russian military facilities: a separate radio-technical center in Gantsevichy and a communications compound in Vileyka. Under the Russian-Belarussian accords of January 6, 1995, they, together with land plots, were transferred to Russia for use until 2020.

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