Lavrov says he did not discuss issue of Russian military base in Belarus with Belarusian FM

MOSCOW, October 27. /TASS/. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his Belarusian counterpart Vladimir Makei have not discussed today at the joint collegium of foreign ministries the issue of establishing a Russian military base on the Belarusian territory. "Concerning the military base, our defense ministries are responsible for this issue," Lavrov said. "It was not on the agenda at our meeting," he added. Belarusian Defense Minister Andrey Ravkov said earlier that there is no point in stationing a Russian military base on the Belarusian territory. He said that consultations on conditions of opening the base have been completed. Ravkov noted that the Belarusian president has not made an official decision on the military base yet. Russian President Vladimir Putin last month instructed the Defense Ministry and Foreign Ministry to enter negotiations with Belarus and to sign an agreement on creating a Russian airbase in the country’s territory. As the Russian government said earlier, the agreement would contribute to establishing a joint defense of the Union State’s border in the air space and to create an integral regional air defense system of Russia and Belarus. Read more