Lukashenka: “Russia is hitting in face”

The Belarusian dictator again raised a theme of relations with Kremlin in an interview to “Litovsky Kurier” newspaper.

Alyaksandr Lukashenka said in his interview to Lithuanian “Litovsy Kurier” on October 21: “We are not initiators, and we couldn’t be initiators, of the bad relations with Russia, our brother country. Everything depends on the people who rule the Russian Federation today.”

“You see that it’s come to humiliating, to personal insults of president of Belarus and other people. This is politics. I’ve got used to it. It happened to me to overstep such barriers several times,” the Belarusian ruler emphasized.

He stressed that one should not take offence at Belarus. “Why did Russia take offense that we delivered oil from Venezuela, have more active trade with the EU than with Russia, moreover we have trade surplus, and so on? Why do you take offense? Do you remember those wars, gas, oil, milk, sugar, etc? Yes, we have difficult conditions to work in now, oil duties have been imposed, we are threatened with gas blockade. We’ve already had this experience. If we are hit in the face, as the Russians say, so we bean to look for partners in other states for compensation. We might not have done that if everything had been normal. It’s not us who initiated this,” Lukashenka noted.

According to him, people in Russia, “as well as people in Lithuania” have normal attitude towards Lukashenka. “But this doesn’t mean I claim to Monomakh's Cap< to power in the Kremlin or in your Lithuanian state. Power in Belarus is enough for me. I work normally. People respect me. But I don’t care about this now. I am fed up with power. If the Russians respect Lukashenka, then use it. Do not try to pour dirt on me to lower my rating in Russian society, the result is contrary. Clever people in Russia understand what is going on. These attacks, Godbatka 1, 2, 3, 4. I don’t know if you’ve watched them, but I haven’t. I was given an analysis because I didn’t have enough time, I was on business trips. Secondly, I was told what the movies were about. Our Belarusian opposition has been pouring this dirt for several years. Now, Russia’s has woken up and poured this mud on me again,” Lukashenka said.