Lukashenko reveals his conversation with Putin about large prisoner swap with West

In an interview with the Rossiya TV channel Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko shared the details of a conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin about a large-scale prisoner exchange, as a result of which many Russian citizens returned home, BelTA has learned. Aleksandr Lukashenko noted that any person is influenced by his past, by his professional work. In this regard, Vladimir Putin is no exception. "He, for example, served in intelligence. How could he leave behind the guys who serve in the same positions? How could he abandon them? He couldn’t. Therefore, we pulled them out," the president said. "The past has a role to play in a person’s life." The head of state said that he had repeatedly spoken on this topic with his Russian counterpart, who explained his actions as follows: "How can I abandon these guys? These are our guys, they serve Russia," the president quoted Putin as saying.