Belarus’ Lukashenko says he’ll run for president in 2025

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko attends a meeting of the Supreme State Council of Russia-Belarus Union State in Saint Petersburg, Russia, January 29, 2024. Sputnik/Vyacheslav Prokofyev/Pool via REUTERS/ File Photo

MOSCOW — Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko said he would run for president again in 2025, Belarusian state news agency BelTA reported on Sunday.

“Tell them (the exiled opposition) that I’ll run,” Lukashenko told journalists at a polling station after voting in parliamentary and local council elections.

“No one, no responsible president would abandon his people who followed him into battle.”

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Lukashenko, 69, has ruled Belarus since 1994 and is one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s closest allies.

“We’re still a year away from the presidential election. A lot of things can change,” he said in response to a follow-up question, BelTA reported.

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“Naturally, I and all of us, society, will react to the changes that will take place in our society and the situation in which we will approach the elections in a year’s time.”