Opinions & Interviews

Lukashenko: Belarus and Russia need to be together

MINSK, 1 March (BelTA) – Belarus and Russia need to be together, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko said as he met with community leaders, experts, Belarusian and foreign media on 1 March, BelTA has learned.

“I was, as they call me in Russia, the main initiator of our union. I always said in Russia and here that our fate is to live together. When looking at people around, I can see what policies they pursue. It is the same, in relation to Russia, and in relation to Belarus. Only forms differ. Therefore, we need to be together,” Alexander Lukashenko said.

The head of state stressed that Belarus and Russia are not only two close countries, the countries are tied in economic terms. “You know, when I was making decisions at the dawn of our independence, with whom and how to be, the fate of our state and my policy was largely determined by the fact that we are connected with each other, we are close people. The entire economic basis relied on it. Our economy was the finishing high-tech production, and we used huge amounts of resources, spare parts and other things, first of all, from the Russian Federation. Then finished products were exported. This also pertains to two oil processing enterprises which were built to process oil and to export their products to the premium European market. I needed to preserve and restore those plants, to give jobs to people and to help them provide for their families. Many factors encouraged me to advocate for such close allied relations with our brotherly Russia,” he remarked.

“When we signed the Union State Treaty, steps to create this state were envisaged there. The main step that we had to take was to pass the Constitution of our state at the referendum in order to answer all the questions, from common currency to state administration bodies,” Alexander Lukashenko said and added the Russian side did not go for it back then.

“You remember that only the lazy did not throw stones at me back then. They started to accuse me of virtually ruining the constitutional order in Russia. Some people were afraid that Lukashenko will come, take Monomakh's Cap and rule there. Were there any remarks of this kind? Yes, there were, up to bans, visits to Russian regions were unwelcome and so on. We held out,” the Belarusian president remarked.

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