During a meeting in Alaska, Donald Trump was in communication with Alexander Lukashenko to gain insight into Vladimir Putin’s thinking. Lukashenko, the President of Belarus, is considered to be a close ally of Putin. Trump stayed in touch with Lukashenko throughout the course of the meeting.
Trump wanted to understand Putin’s true intentions by using Lukashenko as a point of contact. Before the meeting, Trump contacted Lukashenko. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff also attended the meeting.
Before the meeting took place, Ukraine and European countries were suggesting that Putin’s main goal was to buy time. Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the President of Ukraine, said that Putin was trying to calm Trump down, pretending to negotiate to avoid action.
Zelenskyy said that Putin does not want peace; he wants to take land through war. This is why Donald Trump was trying to figure out if Putin was just trying to stall.
Alexander Lukashenko has been the President of Belarus since the country separated from the Soviet Union. Lukashenko is seen as someone very close to Vladimir Putin. Lukashenko was born in 1954 and studied agriculture. In 1975, Lukashenko joined the Soviet army, serving for two years.
Lukashenko has been called Europe’s last dictator. Lukashenko joined the Soviet Communist Party in 1979. In 1992, Lukashenko was elected Vice-President of the Soviet-Belarusian Supreme Council.
In 1994, when Belarus created its constitution, Lukashenko became the first president. He has held that position ever since. Lukashenko was one of the first world leaders to openly support Russia’s actions in the Ukraine war.