The President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, states that it is not actual to build a Russian air base in the Republic of Belarus, according to National Agency of Investment and Privatization.
“People keep talking about some military base. What difference will the ten aircraft Russia wanted to base in Bobruisk make?” said Alexander Lukashenko. “I told Putin that the airfield needs to be restored. Half of the runway is gone now. I said we could use 20 aircraft.”
The President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, believes that it is not practical to build a Russian air base in his country, as he stated during the “Big Conversation with the President”, Interfax reported.
“They say, a military base … Oh, come on, who needs these 10 aircraft, which Russia wanted to station… in Bobruisk. I said to Putin: it is necessary to rebuild the airfield, it’s is already half-dismantled. Why 10 aircraft? Give us 20 aircraft, we have great pilots, great school, you know that we are not worse at fighting in military aircraft. We are one team after all. But no, Shoygu wanted this,” Lukashenko said during the “Big Conversation with the President.
The President of Belarus said it maked little sense to have an airfield close to potential battle space.
“Let’s look at it from a military point of view. What is the benefit of such an air base? What is, for example, a plane in a modern war against NATO? 10 minutes of battle — it took off, and it’s gone. The war is different today. It’s in Syria where there is no system of air defense that you can fly,” underlined Alexander Lukashenko.
The President of Belarus said that the Russian proposal to establish a military base in Belarus “is not a military proposal.”
“From the military point of view, there is no need in militaty base here. This base and planes, they (the Russian Federation) want to put here – this is a demonstration”, reported “TASS”.
See also: Lukashenko under Kremlin pressure: Russia may prepare for construction of military base in Belarus
