President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko continues to dream of being awarded the military rank of colonel in the Russian army. At the beginning of the year, he spoke about this in an interview with Vladimir Solovyov. Then the Kremlin refused, citing the fact that Lukashenko is a citizen of another state.
However, today in the Amur region, a Komsomolskaya Pravda journalist reminded Russian President Vladimir Putin about Lukashenko’s dream, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
“Alexander Grigorievich does not need the head of another state to confer titles on him. He is a big boss himself. As you know, I do not have the rank of general, but I faithfully serve the people. Military people need ranks first of all, and Alexander Grigorievich is at the forefront. These shoulder straps have no use for him,” Putin replied.
Lukashenko was artistically offended.
“It would be nice if I were a colonel too. The truth is that he promised me, but he still hasn’t given it to me,” he grumbled.
“If we promised, we will do it,” Putin responded.
During the press conference, it became clear that Lukashenko was also tormented by other grievances. Today Putin instructed the leadership of Roscosmos to train a Belarusian cosmonaut. Journalists asked if Lukashenko himself would like to fly.
"I would like to. I used to think that my older brother could send me there and not bring me back. Now I don't think so anymore. So I would like to. But I have someone to send, so I’ll think about this issue,” Lukashenko said.
It remained unclear whether he was referring to the real candidate or alluding to the self-proclaimed “leader of the Belarusian nation” Svetlana Tikhanovskaya.