Belarus’s ruler heaped praise on his friend Vladimir Putin, declaring that the Russian leader is in “better form than ever,” despite accusations that he is mentally ill.

In an interview with the Japanese television station TBS, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko offered a positive picture of his friend, despite Russia‘s escalating invasion of Ukraine.

“We’ve not only met as leaders of state, but we’re pals,” Lukashenko remarked. “I have complete access to all of his information, both state and personal.”

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While soldiers crossed the Russian border to the east, Putin’s army exploited Belarus as a staging area for the northern ground invasion of Ukraine.

Lukashenko dismissed claims that Putin made a major error in attempting to seize Ukraine, despite the fact that Russian soldiers have suffered tremendous losses and are still facing stiff opposition more than three weeks into the operation.

“Putin is in great form, in better shape than ever… This is a fully sane, healthy individual who is physically fit – he’s an athlete.”

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“He’ll get a cold at all our funerals, as they say here.”

Lukashenko, who describes himself as “Europe’s last dictator,” also labelled the Soviet Union’s fall a “tragedy” and stated that Ukraine, a former Soviet country, is an “inalienable part” of Russia.

“The world was multipolar when the USSR existed, and one pole balanced the other,” he explained. “The explanation for what is happening in the globe now is unipolarity — the United States of America‘s monopolisation of our planet.”

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President Joe Biden has previously called Putin a “war criminal,” a “pure thug,” and a “murderous dictator.”