Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko revealed during a speech to youth leaders in Minsk that he and Russian President Vladimir Putin regularly joke and argue over which of them qualifies as the ultimate dictator.The Belarus leader's comments at "Youth.Belarus.
Future." on Sept.17 also underlines the close alignment between Moscow and Minsk, as Lukashenko enjoys his position as Europe’s longest-serving head of state.Lukashenko has ruled over Belarus unhindered since 1994, with Putin leading Russia since 2012, also serving as president between 2000 and 2008."You know what they say about me?" Lukashenko asked the audience during his Sept.
17 address, according to Novaya Gazeta.TRUMP SAYS US HELPED SECURE RELEASE OF 5 PRISONERS IN BELARUS DEAL, THANKS LUKASHENKORussian President Vladimir Putin shakes hands with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko during the Eurasian Economic Union summit in Saint Petersburg on Dec.21, 2025.
(Contributor/Getty)"[I am] the last dictator, the second-to-last dictator in Europe.Dictator, dictator.
Vladimir Putin and I often joke and argue over which of us is more of a dictator."He continued: "They say I’m the last dictator, the last dictator in Europe.Dictator — so be it.
Well, Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin and I often argue, jokingly, about which of us is the bigger dictator."Lukashenko, 72, a former Soviet collective farm manager, is also known to be Putin’s closest international partner and ally.While Minsk has not committed ground troops to the war in Ukraine, it serves as a strategic staging ground for Moscow, with Russia relying on Belarus for military and strategic support in its ongoing war against Ukraine.According to the Kyiv Post, Belarus specifically provides Russia with key weapons components and allows its forces to launch military strikes from Belarusian territory.An August report by Ukrainska Pravda also highlighted a new railway construction capable of handling military trains in Belarus's Gomel Oblast...