Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko held a meeting with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu in Minsk on 10 April. The Russian defense minister arrived in the Belarusian capital following the recent agreements between the two heads of state, BelTA has learned.
“When parting with Vladimir Vladimirovich [Putin] after our latest negotiations we agreed that you and your experts will come to Belarus and we will sit down with you to discuss the security issues of Belarus. You know that I raised this issue at the Supreme State Council meeting. But before that, we had discussed it with Vladimir Vladimirovich,” the president said.
According to Aleksandr Lukashenko, Western countries do not comply with the agreements on security guarantees, which were given within the framework of the Budapest Memorandum in exchange for the withdrawal of nuclear weapons. “I am talking about the time after 1994, the famous Budapest Memorandum, where all the Western powers and Russia swore to provide full security to Kazakhstan, Ukraine and Belarus. You know, of course, that Western states have trampled all these treaties, agreements and statements and there is no security. It referred to economic security among other things. What kind of economic security is there if they impose sanctions against us, Russia?” the Belarusian leader said. “I raised this issue in talks with the president of Russia. He fully supported me. He said we needed to revise all our treaties and agreements – those of Belarus and Russia - to see what legal act of interstate nature should be adopted now to fully ensure the security of Belarus,” he added.
“In general, it was said at the talks that in case of aggression against Belarus the Russian Federation protects Belarus as its own territory. We need such [security] guarantees,” the president said.
Aleksandr Lukashenko once again stressed that the West had forgotten its obligations. “What security guarantees can the United States give us? None. Except for spurring aggression against us, as we see it now. We need full security guarantees from our brotherly Russia. So when parting with Putin, we discussed this issue once again. We agreed that you and your experts would come here today and we would discuss this issue in the context of the situation that is taking shape around us today, including the special military operation. I am grateful to you for coming here. I think that today we will discuss all the issues that relate to our bilateral relations and the situation in Belarus and Russia,” the president said.
Another topic that Aleksandr Lukashenko discussed with Sergei Shoigu was the combat training and cohesion of the joint group of forces, which includes Russian military stationed in Belarus. "I am grateful to you that despite all the difficulties you keep several thousand Russian servicemen deployed here. We have contributed as far as necessary. Together with your officers we are training these guys, improving their combat cohesion. We train them as we should. We must keep our guards up. You can see that Poland, Lithuania are beginning to take action in our direction. Therefore, this is a good help and support for the Belarusian army, which defends the Union State on the western flank," the president added.
Sergei Shoigu, on his part, confirmed that he came to Belarus following the agreements of the two presidents. “I have the appropriate authority and instructions from our president, the Supreme Commander-in-Chief. I would like to express special thanks to your Defense Ministry, and to you personally. Five Belarusian firing ranges have been allocated. They are well-equipped. Moreover, a sufficient number of instructors, officers of the Belarusian Armed Forces, are involved in training our military personnel. This group of forces is indeed a large one. Today we will consider all the issues related to its further stay and training here and, probably, the expansion of the framework that you and Vladimir Vladimirovich [Putin] have discussed,” the minister said.
Answer:
Dear Shivendu Paul and Metali Listeners' Club,
dthank you for your comment! We'll send you some of our souvenirs ASAP.
Stay tuned and 73,
RBI
Hallo Radio Belarus,
ja der Dieter Leupold ist jetzt auch hier im Gästebuch vertreten... Super, bald sind wir alle zusammen hier im "Belarus Hörerclub", Dieter könnte 1.Vorsitzender werden und Jana und Elena Ehrernmitglieder, Helmut Matt Schriftführer, Alfred Albrecht Beisitzer und ich mache Hausmeister:-) Lutz Winkler wie fit bist Du bereits wieder, für Dich finden wir auch eine nette Aufgabe:-) Beste Grüße und ein schönes Wochenende.
Dietmar
Answer:
Lieber Dietmar,
das stimmt, für alle finden wir im Hörerklub eine Aufgabe!:)
Liebe Grüße und einen guten Start in die Woche!
I recently learned my surname is not Polish, but Belarusian. I heard you on shortwave in the past and am so happy to listen online in English. We hear nothing about Belarus here in the US so I am so glad to learn about your country. Keep on broadcasting in English. I also joined the Hoererklub on Facebook as I can understand German. If you have information or a station pennant, I will very much appreciate it.
Sheryl Paszkiewicz, 1015 Green St, Manitowoc WI 54220 USA
Answer:
Dear Sheryl, thank you very much for listening to us! We'll send you some of our souvenirs as soon as we can. By the way, if you're interested, you can participate in our "The Old Country's Loving Call" project and send a greeting to Belarus. You can find more detailed information at http://www.radiobelarus.by/en/content/hukaje_eng
Also, in case you like sports, here's the link to an international competition of ours "My Greetings to 2nd European Games" http://www.radiobelarus.by/en/content/games_eng
73 from the entire staff of RBI! Прывiтанне з Малой Радiзмы :)
Hello from Birmingham United Kingdom!
My name is Michael.
I really enjoyed listening to your program on the Hotbird satellite 13e. I very much love listening to your news and current affairs.
Ask you to send me a small gifts. I hope you guys are all good.
Lots of love from UK
Especially enjoying learning about Belarus. History and culture
Michael Rogers
Flat 2 463 City road Birmingham
B17 8LG
United Kingdom
Answer:
Michael,
thank you very much for listening to us! We're glad that you enjoy our programs. We'll send you some of our souvenirs as soon as we can. Best regards and stay tuned!
Hello. I am a new listener to your English service. I listen on the Radio 1 News app. I enjoyed listening to the news. Do you have any information on shortwave broadcasts you can send me?
Thank you,
Joe Cosimo
23 Ivy Ln, Dupont, PA 18641 U.S.A.
Answer:
Dear Joe, thank you for listening to Radio Belarus International! We're glad that you enjoyed our news. RBI broadcasts on shortwave only in German on 6005 and 3985 kHz. News and programs in English are available via our website and satellites. We'll also send you a postcard and a small souvenir as soon as we can. 73!
Hello,
My name is Younes Lazazi, I am from Algeria.
I am very happy that radio Belarus has started broadcasting in Arabic.
I would like to receive stickers and printed matter of the station and the Arabic and french services if possible.
My address:
Monsieur Younes Lazazi 14 rue Maza Boualem El-Harrach 16009 Alger Algérie
Thank you.
Answer:
Dear Younes Lazazi,
we're happy that you like our boradcasts. We'll send you some of our printed materials via mail in the nearest future. 73!
Dear English Service Radio Belarus,
Greetings to all staff and listeners of English Service of Radio Belarus. We listen your webcast program. Your program quality is very nice. Your website is colorful & documented. We liked your programs, News, and Current Affairs Program. We are interested about Culture, life style of Belarusian people, historical places, Tourist attraction and destination of Belarus.
Please send some program schedule, sticker, view card, Promotional items of Radio Belarus for our club members and students.
We are waiting for your reply.
With best wishes,
SHIVENDU PAUL
President
Metali Listeners' Club
India
Answer:
Dear Shivendu Paul,
thank you very much for listening to us! Your club is among our most dedicated listeners. We will send you some of our promotional products as soon as possible. 73!
Hello!
Did the arabic programmes start? I don't see them on your Internetcast schedule page. Thanks!
Answer:
Hello! The Arabic programmes have been on air since October, every Monday. You can see the schedule and listen to them on our Arabic page http://radiobelarus.by/ar
FM transmitters and frequencies:
Rakitnitsa - 106.2 MHz
Hrodna - 95.7 MHz
Svislach - 104.4 MHz
Heraniony - 99.9 MHz
Braslau - 106.6 MHz
Miadzel - 102.0 MHz
Satellite broadcasting:
see satellite parameters here
