Lukashenko invites Wagner mercenaries to train Belarusian military

Minsk, July 1

Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko has invited Wagner mercenaries to train his military, according to a state media report.

The President offered the invitation during a speech on Friday, CNN quoted the Belarusian state news agency Belta as saying.

“Unfortunately, they (Wagner mercenaries) are not here... And if their instructors, as I already told them, come and pass on combat experience to us, we will accept this experience,” Lukashenko said.

He also said he is not afraid of Wagner members, as he “has known them for a long time”.

“These are people who fought all over the world to establish a normal civilisation. The West hates them to the core," he said.

The President admitted that the world was facing an unprecedented crisis, but accused the West of not feeling the need for a dialogue to resolve it.

Lukashenko also accused the European Union and the US of “arming Poland at an accelerated pace”, CNN reported.

"Thus, another hotbed of tension is being created, another stronghold is being created for the aggression of the most aggressive country in the world and, unfortunately, the most powerful -- the US,” he said.

According to Lukashenko, the West is making Poland into “a proxy training ground” to use against Belarus and Russia.

Following the group's short-lived rebellion in Russia on June 24 against the country's military leadership, Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin arrived in Belarus on June 27.

Lukashenko mediated talks between Prigozhin and Russia leading to the end of the mutiny.