December 30 will be a symbolic starting point for Putin, because on this day the USSR was created - Viktor Shlinchak

He told about this on Espreso TV channel.

"I think that December 30 will be point zero for Putin, from which he will start some kind of countdown. Let me remind you that 100 years ago, on December 30, the creation of the USSR was proclaimed. No matter how trite it may sound, Putin is constantly preparing for some dates. I do not exclude that perhaps on December 30 he will want to go to the podium and announce the creation of a new Soviet Union together with Belarus, and possibly with some other countries. In my opinion, he has such a story in mind,” Shlinchak stated.

Viktor Shlinchak stressed that Putin wanted to seize Ukraine and annex it to Russia, which is no longer a secret, and everyone understands it perfectly.

"In a week we will understand what Putin returned from Minsk with. It is obvious that Lukashenko will delay to the last because he is very zealous about limiting any of his power. It is possible that Putin came to remind that it was he who preserved Lukashenko as president. So, Russian president will insist that Lukashenko agree to the creation of a legal state, which Putin sees," Shlinchak suggested.

• On December 20, the Institute for the Study of War noted in its report that Lukashenko rejected Putin's efforts to further Russian-Belarusian integration.