US President Donald Trump called Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko a "strong and respected leader".
"It was a very nice gesture from the Belarusian leader, who is a very respected man. Strong, strong man, strong leader", Trump told reporters at the White House, commenting on Minsk's recent decision to release some prisoners.
Earlier this week in Beijing, Lukashenko congratulated Russian President Vladimir Putin on his "successful meeting" with Trump in Alaska and expressed his unconditional support for the Kremlin.
"We applauded you. There's no need to say: someone won, someone lost. Well done, you two did very well. It's just to the west of us they're shouting: bad, bad. They are feeling bad all the time. I think they will also join the initiatives that you have outlined with the US president," Lukashenko said, quoted by Interfax.
"We are working together on all fronts and will continue to work. When the US president called, we discussed this problem. I said: we are one country in principle. Russia is fighting alone, we support it as best we can, and we will continue to support it, I am talking about this publicly. Many will thank us, especially in Europe, for the fact that again at this difficult moment we must stop Nazism, which could have grown into fascism. We will play our role together until the end," Lukashenko said.
He also noted that it is very important for Belarus to be among the members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, but no one can replace Russia.