Existence of Belarus and strengthening of Russian army: Ukrainian officials comment on Putin's visit to Lukashenko

On the air of the telethon, the Ukrainian presidential adviser suggested that Putin and Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko were no longer discussing the war against Ukraine and Belarus' participation in hostilities, but the integration of Belarus into the Russian Federation.

"They are more likely to discuss whether Belarus will exist as an independent state, and whether more integrative processes between Russia and Belarus will be carried out to mark a century since the USSR was founded. Russia aims to essentially take control of Belarus, and Putin said that he had already begun to collect Slavic or Soviet lands," Ukraine’s presidential adviser said.

According to Podolyak, Lukashenko will be offered to become the governor or remain the president, who will be considered the governor-general of Belarus in the Kremlin.

Meanwhile, the representative of the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, Andriy Yusov, stated on the air of the telethon that Russia was trying to obtain maximum opportunities from the Belarusian defense industry for the significantly weakened Russian army.

"In addition to the desire to involve Belarus in a full-scale ground operation, Moscow is trying to squeeze the maximum opportunities for the Russian army from the Belarusian military defense system. Russia is really losing a lot and cannot make up for the losses in equipment and ammunition on its own. Military defense system is also the subject of negotiations between the two presidents," Yusov noted.