Veteran Belarus leader Lukashenko signals this may be his final term

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko stated in an interview published on Friday that he has no intention of seeking another term in office and dismissed claims that he is preparing his son to take over leadership.

Lukashenko, a long-standing ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has ruled Belarus for over 30 years under an authoritarian regime and was re-elected to a seventh term in January.

Speaking to TIME magazine, the 70-year-old leader said he was “not planning” to run again, though he joked that U.S. President Donald Trump, at nearly 80, was still “looking decent.”

He emphasised that his successor should not make abrupt changes but should continue the country’s development to prevent any “revolutionary collapse.”

Addressing persistent rumours that he is grooming his son, Nikolai, as a successor, Lukashenko firmly denied the speculation.

“No, he is not a successor. I knew you’d ask that. No, no, no. Ask him yourself- he might actually be offended,” he told TIME, with excerpts later published in Russian by state news agency Belta.

Lukashenko faced massive protests in 2020 after an election widely condemned by the opposition and Western governments as fraudulent. His government responded with a crackdown, imprisoning or exiling opposition leaders.

Since mid-2024, several hundred people jailed for "extremism" and other politically motivated charges have been released- a move analysts interpret as an attempt to reduce Belarus’s isolation from the West. However, human rights groups report that nearly 1,200 political prisoners remain in custody.

Lukashenko continues to deny the existence of political prisoners in Belarus.

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