Lukashenko to Putin: 'If They Stayed Here, What? Let Them Flee.'

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has told his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin during negotiations that most representatives of the Belarusian opposition who left the republic after the 2020 presidential elections are now asking to return to the country, according to RIA Novosti.

“I really wasn’t worried when a few thousand (Belarusians) left in 2020, they are asking to come back now. The majority are saying, ‘Take us back,’” Lukashenko stated.

The Belarusian President expressed the opinion that the situation related to migration will develop similarly now, following the announcement of partial mobilization in Russia.

“I see they are trying to intimidate us with mobilization, someone has fled abroad, Russia has 25 million people as mobilization resources, let 30, well, 50 thousand flee, if they stayed here, what? Let them flee... And these will come back, we just need to decide what to do with them,” Lukashenko noted.