Belarus will never surrender independence under economic pressure: Lukashenka

Russia treats Belarus unfairly as a partner in the union state by depriving Minsk of economic preferences, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenka said in an interview with the Russian news agency Ria-Novosti and Russia Today television channel.
Lukashenka expressed regret that Moscow "does not pay for those functions which Belarus fulfills by protecting Russia's western borders".

At the same time, Lukashenka stated that Belarus would never sacrifice its independence and would not make political concessions in respond to the harsh economic policy of Moscow towards Belarus.