No need to establish Russian military airbase in Belarus: Lukashenko

Belarus considers it inappropriate to establish Russian military base in Bobruisk, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko said at a meeting with public and media representatives on February 3, TASS reported.

“Is this base necessary from a military point of view? We do not need it here. This base and the aircraft they [Russia] want to deploy here, all this is a demonstration,” he saying as quoted by TASS.

Lukashenko stated that it would be appropriate to transfer Russian military aircraft to Belarus. “We have perfect pilots, we have an excellent school. You know that we can operate military aircraft no worse than Russian pilots. Gives us 20 aircraft, after all, we have a joint force,” Lukashenko said.