Lukashenka: Putin never wanted Belarus to be part of Russia

BELTA has started publishing Alyaksandr Lukashenka’s replies to the questions asked by a Bloomberg journalist. One of them was about Belarus’ independence and our country’s relations with Russia.

Belarus will not become part of Russia and the Russian authorities have never asked for it, Lukashenka claimed. There are a lot of Russian politicians who would like to make Belarus a North-Western Krai, he said. “But we can say: we will never be Northwestern Krai. And, as far as I understand, we will never have any conflict with Russia either,” BELTA quotes the Belarusian leader.

Lukashenka: “Russia has not asked Belarus to become its part now. There were some hints in the past but my reaction was harsh. We are a sovereign and independent state. And we will remain independent.” Vladimir Putin suggested that Belarus joined Russia as a subject of the federation or as six separate provinces in 2002.

They discussed the issue with Putin a year after the presidential election in Russia, Lukashenka said. Russia did not need to seize any country and Belarus was not an exception, the Russian President said back then.

Russia will not wage war against our state, the Belarusian President thinks: “But I would like to stress again: those who live by the sword shall perish by the sword. We will struggle with anyone who comes to seize this piece of land be they Europeans, Americans or Russians. This land is meant for Belarusians.”

Putin is not planning to restore the Russian Empire like the West thinks, Lukashenka added: “Putin does not want to seize anything. He is a modern person and understands that this would be very dangerous now.”

Belarus-Russia relations have not changed after the events in Ukraine, the President added.