Contents tagged with Lukashenko

  • President of Belarus threatens joint response with Russia if the USA deploys missiles in Europe

    Belarus may employ reciprocal measures together with Russia if the USA deploys missiles in Europe in violation of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty or INF, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko stated, BelTA reports. 

    “I am afraid that the Americans will grab the fleeting opportunity to deploy the missiles in Europe after breaking the treaty. If they do, things will turn nasty for us. And together with Russia we will have to think about reciprocal measures. It is unavoidable if …

  • Lukashenko: I will never surrender Belarus to Poland or Russia

    During a meeting with members of the Military Academy, President Alexander Lukashenko called the sovereignty and independence of Belarus his main achievement, BELTA reported.

     “I am both proud and happy to be the first president of this sovereign country. And what we have created together is the biggest achievement,” said the president of Belarus.

    Commenting on the rumors about the threats to the sovereignty of Belarus coming from Russia, the president said that he could not “bury” an …

  • Former NATO Secretary-General: Belarus faces annexation by Russia

    The former NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, in an interview with LIGA.net, stated that Belarus faces the threat of annexation by Russia.

    “The key risk is a repeat of what happened in Ukraine after the war and the annexation. Belarus can expect the same scenario if it does not begin reforms,” he said.

    Rasmussen called on Belarus to begin reforms which would lead to democracy and freedom before it's too late.

    “We heard Vladimir Putin’s statement where he said that Belarus must be …

  • President of Belarus Lukashenko will not attend the Munich Conference because of meeting with Putin

    President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko refused to participate in the Munich Conference because he will be having talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, reported the press service of the Foreign Ministry of Belarus.

    Lukashenko was to take part in a panel discussion with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, the President of Azerbaijan, the Prime Minister of Georgia and the OSCE Secretary General.

    “However, literally at the very last moment certain temporary issues arose. The need to …

  • Poland stops assistance to Belarusian opposition website Charter 97

    On February 14, the Editor-in-Chief of the Belarusian opposition website Charter97.org, Natalya Radina was invited to the Polish Foundation for International Solidarity, where she was informed that the site could expect Poland’s support in 2019 to be reduced fivefold, as reported on the edition’s website. 

    “Such a sharp reduction of the site assistance actually means its destruction. Poland helped us after the website editorial office was crushed in Belarus, our site’s founder Oleg Bebenin was …

  • Lithuanian special services: Belarus is a 'buffer state' in Russian military doctrine

    According to the Annual Threat Assessment prepared by two Lithuanian special services, the Department of State Security and Military Intelligence of Lithuania, Russia consistently strengthens military facilities in the Kaliningrad region, however, the additional NATO forces deployed in the Baltic region and the growing national forces of Baltic countries reduce the likelihood of conflict, Interfax reported.

    “The [Russian] military group deployed in the region is consistently being strengthened: …

  • Russia begins revision of Union treaty with Belarus

    Moscow has started to revise its treaty from 1999 which established the Union State with Belarus. The work is being done as part of the bilateral integration work group, said Russian Ambassador to Belarus Mikhail Babich on 23 January, as reported by Interfax.

    “The Russian part of the group has started working. They are currently making an inventory of all the terms of the union treaty according to the blocks: economic, social, on the state governance organs, on matters of security and military …

  • President of Belarus Lukashenko refuses to use Russian rubles as common currency

    Belarus is not against having a single currency with Russia, but it should not be the Russian currency, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko stated on Friday at a meeting dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the Belarusian diplomatic service.

     “We do not mind a common currency, but it should be a common currency, not the currency of the Central Bank of Russia. There should be an emission center on equal terms,” TASS quoted Lukashenko as saying.

    Lukashenko said that Belarus is ready to …

  • Belarusian President Lukashenko threatens to break off alliance with Russia

    Russia risks losing its “sole ally” in the west, Belarus, if it refuses to compensate Minsk for the losses arising from a Russian tax maneuver in the oil sector, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko told Interfax in an interview. 

    According to Lukashenko, if the monetary dispute with Russia’s leaders is not resolved, it will not be a catastrophe for Belarus. 

    The amount in question is in the region of $400 million per year, the amount that the Belarusian budget earns from the fact that …

  • President of Belarus Lukashenko congratulates Putin on the successful union of the two nations

    In his New Year’s greeting to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko said that the union between the two nations has been successful, the press service of the Belarusian leader reported. 

    Lukashenko noted that in the upcoming year, the two countries will be celebrating the 20th anniversary of signing the agreement on establishing the State Union. According to him, Belarus and Russia have had an uneasy path “but we can now say with confidence that the …