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Lukashenko: If forced to choose, Belarus will always choose Russia

MINSK, 23 March (BelTA) – In the situation when Belarus will have to choose, it will always support Russia, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko told reporters on 23 March, BelTA has learnt.

“If you ask me what choice I will make (Crimea is not the hardest of these choices), I will tell you that considering our common historical background, our Union State project, and our agreements with the Russian Federation, we will be with Russia and there should not be any further speculations about it,” the Belarusian head of state said.

“Our domestic, foreign, military policy is not aimed against NATO or anyone else. We will pursue a balanced policy. However, if we had to choose, we will choose the Russian Federation,” Alexander Lukashenko said. He added that he told Russian President Vladimir Putin about it during the recent conversation. Alexander Lukashenko told Vladimir Putin that “there is no reason to worry; Belarus will always be with the Russian Federation”.

The Belarusian President drew some parallels. “Was the bombing of Iraq by Americans, NATO legal? We know it was not. What position did the allies of the USA and NATO take? Even Georgia, Ukraine (that are not part of NATO) sent their troops there. They strongly supported this illegal campaign. What happened in Egypt, Tunisia and then in Libya; what is happening in Syria? The western world sticks to the same position. They, first of all, Americans, understand that what they do there is illegal. But they act together; they are bound by agreements and arrangements. In this case, why should we act against Russia? We are with Russians,” the Belarusian leader said.

“I will tell you honestly: the western world is a sham; the people over there are good for nothing. They made so much fuss about it. To be honest, at some point I got an impression that this might end up in a war. And what happened? 20 people were banned from entering Europe. These people have never travelled to Europe; some of them are not even allowed to go there because of the work they do. This is the essence of the West,” the head of state said.

“And then, how many promises were made. They said they would never pressurize or bully Belarus, or impose economic sanctions. In fact, they did it. They imposed economic sanctions and political sanctions on 200 people in Belarus, including the Belarusian President. Afterwards, they promised to lift all the sanctions. When will these promises be delivered on? Why are they still pressurizing us?” Alexander Lukashenko said. The President drew attention to the issue that was raised by some journalists in relation to sanctions against Belarus and against Russia: “It is scary. Russia is not Belarus. Therefore, they start wobbling and wagging in order to save face. They are not capable of anything and one should think twice before dealing with them. They can deceive you and they deceived me many times. And then, to save face, they started demanding to democratize, devaluate, hold elections in a proper way, and release political prisoners. I tell them - show me the article on which we charged these political prisoners. We explained to them on what charges those people were jailed. This is the West. This is one of the factors that I take into consideration while shaping and pursuing our foreign policy,” the Belarusian leader said. 

“Therefore, we will stay with our people, brotherly nations, Ukraine, Russia and other nations. We will not make any problems for our neighbors. But we will closely monitor the situation and respond to the developments near our borders,” Alexander Lukashenko underlined.

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