Lukashenko met with Head of the Investigative Committee of Russia Alexander Bastrykin

At the start of the meeting, Alexander Bastrykin presented the Belarusian President with the 80 Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945 medal.

“This war was won by the entire Soviet people. Belarusians made a huge contribution to this Victory,” the chairman of the Investigative Committee of Russia said.

“For me you are not just an experienced, knowledgeable, intelligent, talented, and highly-educated person. You are a person with whom any issue can be discussed. You are very open and sincere. Forgive my immodesty but I must say that I have something of that nature, too. That is why in our conversations we do not hide any problems and openly discuss them, even if someone, perhaps, does not like them. I really appreciate that,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.

The President expressed special gratitude for the absolute openness of Russian investigators in cooperation with the Investigative Committee of Belarus.

“I am not saying this for a protocol meeting. You are truly helping us on all issues. No matter what question we ask, you always respond and assist. This means a lot. If we had such interaction with all other agencies of Russia, we would have no problems at all. You are a great example for public officials in both Russia and Belarus,” the head of state said.

“These are challenging times: you understand and feel this better than I do, as you are involved in many processes. In all of them. You have been assigned a significant workload in the liberated territories. Our adversaries and enemies are hatching serious terrorist plans, and it is also your job to investigate such crimes in Russia,” the Belarusian leader remarked.

“I want you to know that in these difficult times, we are with you. We have declared this openly that we side with Russia (the only country in the world to do so). Belarus has always sided with Russia and will always do. You can count on us,” Aleksandr Lukashenko emphasized.“Naturally, we tread carefully and cautiously. We do not draw our sabers recklessly like Cossacks. But if we do draw them, we will fight alongside the Russian people to defend our common Fatherland. There is no other way. We have only one [Fatherland], and there will never be another. So I thank you for all the good you do for Belarus, for our unity, for the integration of our states.”

Alexander Bastrykin remarked that his visit to Minsk was a scheduled trip to attend a working meeting of Belarusian and Russian investigative bodies to discuss current criminal cases.

“We have a joint investigative and operational group for investigating cases regarding the genocide of the Belarusian and Russian peoples. Work is underway. We are grateful to our Belarusian colleagues for providing us with a lot of archival materials. We are conducting joint activities both in Russia and in Belarus. Thanks to the support of our Belarusian partners, among other things, we have already issued 34 verdicts in Russia recognizing the actions of the fascists as genocide,” he said.