19 January 2026

Lukashenko lauds Trump's candor

Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko praised U.S. President Donald Trump for his candor during a meeting with Governor of Russia’s Kirov Oblast Alexander Sokolov in Minsk on 19 January, BelTA has learned.

“Look, he says bluntly: ‘We need Venezuela for its oil. We need Greenland for defense and it also has got everything: rare earths, oil, natural gas.’ He says it directly. Diplomats find that unacceptable. And so do I. Maybe it’s better to keep quiet about oil and talk more about drug lords, fight them. But he states bluntly: he needs oil.  ‘If you Europeans don’t buy our oil, you’re finished and so on.’ He just lays it all out,” the Belarusian leader pointed out.

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