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Lukashenko denies rumors Putin barred him from attending Board of Peace meeting in US

The Belarusian president noted that when he talked with Putin, he did not yet know that he had been invited to the Board of Peace

MINSK, February 16. /TASS/. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has dismissed rumors that he was afraid to attend the inaugural meeting of the Board of Peace in Washington, or that Russian President Vladimir Putin insisted that he not to go.

"Security. Ah, Lukashenko got scared, this is a security issue. Listen, this is no issue for Lukashenko. I've never been afraid of anyone, and I'm not going to be. That's a load of nonsense. That someone would grab Lukashenko there and would not allow him to go home - that's rubbish," the Belarusian leader told State Secretary of the Union State Sergey Glazyev, according to a video of Telegram channel Pool One, close to the presidential press service.

Lukashenko noted that when he talked with Putin, he did not yet know that he had been invited to the Board of Peace.

"Putin is a person who would never... He would carefully move things around, make hints, but not to allow somebody to go? On the contrary, he would have said: "Listen, when you are there at the Board, tell [US President] Donald [Trump] this, this, this," he said.

Tags

Vladimir Putin Belarus Alexander Lukashenko

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