"Your convincing victory in the election clearly testifies to your political authority and the people's unwavering support for Belarus' policy", says Putin in a statement published on the Kremlin's website and continues:
"As agreed, I look forward to seeing you in Moscow soon."
The 70-year-old Lukashenko is said to have received over 86 percent of the votes in Sunday's so-called election and continues as president for a seventh term. All real political challengers are either imprisoned or have been forced into exile, and every Belarusian election since 1994 has been condemned by the opposition and human rights organizations as rigged.
"A bluff"
This year, the four hand-picked opposition candidates campaigned for Lukashenko's victory. The EU described the whole thing as "a bluff", while Poland's Foreign Minister expressed sarcastic surprise that "only" nearly 90 percent voted for the dictator.
"Will the rest be imprisoned?", wrote Radoslaw Sikorski on X.
Aleksandr Lukashenko has long been one of Vladimir Putin's closest allies. During a four-hour-long press conference on Sunday, the Belarusian leader said he felt no remorse over the decision to let Russia invade Ukraine from his territory.
Xi congratulates
I regret nothing, said the president in response to a question from AFP news agency regarding the start of the war in February 2022, when Russian forces crossed the border into Ukraine from southern Belarus.
During the press conference, Lukashenko referred to his patron Vladimir Putin as his "older brother", writes The Guardian.
Congratulations to Lukashenko also come from China's leader Xi Jinping, reports the state news agency New China.
