Russian President Vladimir Putin, who celebrates his 70th birthday this Friday, received an unusual gift of a tractor from Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko.
Belarussian Alexander Lukashenko presented Putin with a ‘voucher’ for the vehicle on the sidelines of a meeting of several ex-Soviet leaders gathered at the tsarist-era Constantine Palace in St Petersburg.
Tractors have been the pride of Belarusian industry since Soviet times.
Lukashenko, the autocratic leader who has ruled the former Soviet nation with an iron fist for nearly three decades, seeks to cultivate an image as a man of the people.
The Belarusian leader told reporters that he chose a model similar to the one he has in his garden as a gift for Putin.
“It’s called Belarus. It’s better. It’s personally assembled,” said Lukashenko, who ran an agricultural cooperative in the 1980s before starting his political career.
It is unclear how the Russian head of state responded to the gift, which was released by Lukashenko’s office.
In Serbia, electronic panels appeared today with a photo of Putin and the message: “Happy birthday to President Vladimir Putin of the Serbian brothers!”
The message was signed by a pro-Russian right-wing group, and the Russian head of state remains popular in Serbia despite the Russian invasion of Ukraine, as many Serbs believe the Russian president was instigated by the West.
Four years ago, the Belarusian president gave Putin four sacks of potatoes from his garden for the New Year and Christmas holidays.
In 2019, Moldova’s then-President Igor Dodan presented Putin with four barrels of homemade wine.
In the same year, the then president of Kyrgyzstan, Soronbey Jeenbekov, presented the Russian leader with a Russian trotter horse, Orlov, and a Kyrgyz greyhound, also known as Taigan.
As Prime Minister of Russia (2008-2012), Putin once received a Siberian tiger for his birthday.
Vladimir Putin did not mention Lukashenko’s gift in televised comments at the start of the meeting about the need to discuss ways to resolve conflicts between former Soviet states.
The Russian ruler also stressed the need for information sharing to fight terrorism, illegal drugs and other crimes.
Leaders of the Commonwealth of Independent States, a fragile alliance of former Soviet states, are meeting again next week in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan.
“Hardcore explorer. Extreme communicator. Professional writer. General music practitioner. Prone to fits of apathy.”