Putin and Lukashenko dwell on cooperation, not Ukraine war, after summit

Russian President Vladimir Putin visits the Joint Headquarters of the Russian armed forces involved in military operations in Ukraine, in an unknown location in Russia, in this picture released December 17, 2022. Sputnik/Gavriil Grigorov/Kremlin via REUTERS

(Reuters) -Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Belarusian counterpart extolled ever-closer ties on Monday as Putin visited Minsk for the first time since 2019, hardly mentioning the war raging in nearby Ukraine at a joint news conference.

Russian forces used Belarus as a launch pad for their abortive attack on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv in February, and there has been Russian and Belarusian military activity there for months.