Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said he is troubled by the Russian authorities' stance in relation to his country and would like Moscow to explain what goals it is actually pursuing.
“The conduct of our eastern brother cannot help but cause our concern today. But we, including myself, will not draw any conclusions until we talk to the president of Russia,” Lukashenko said at a session of the Belarusian Security Council in Minsk on Dec.16.
“But I still want to know: what is the purpose of such a policy on the part of the Russian Federation in relation to Belarus,” the president said.
Minsk is not going to dramatize the situation even in the presence of problems in Belarusian-Russian relations, Lukashenko said.
“I would like to reiterate that we are not dramatizing the situation. We simply want clarity. But we cannot fail to take this into consideration,” he said.
Moscow and Minsk concluded earlier that all problems facing Belarusian-Russian ties could be only economic, he said.
“We and you said once that the main threats to our country lie in the economy and there are not and cannot be any other threats, including on the part of non-governmental organizations, some radical opposition, etc. The authorities are still able to meet the people’s interests at the very least. The people put up with these authorities even through some officials have stopped working,” he said.
