Belarus, Georgia are not friends against Russia: Lukashenka

The development of relations between Belarus and Georgia is not "a friendship against Russia", Alexander Lukashenka said today at the harvest festival Dazhynki'2007 in Rechytsa, reports the official news agency Belta.

This week Belarus was visited by the Georgian interior minister who held talks with the Belarusian leader. After the talks, the state-run media in Belarus started calling Georgian president Mikhail Saakashvili "a friend of the Belarusian people". Earlier, the same media were very critical about the Georgian president.

The Russian business daily Kommersant suggests that Belarus has asked Georgia to act as a intermediary in relations with the West.

Talking to reporters on Saturday, Lukashenka noted: "The Russian diplomats meet their Georgian collegues very often. It does not make us believe that they make friends against Belarus. We are a sovereign state, which has the right to build relations with other nations, based on our interests".