MOSCOW, 8 September (BelTA) – The interview Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko gave to representatives of top Russian mass media on 8 September will be discussed in Russia for at least one week, BelTA learned from Pavel Feldman, Deputy Director of the Institute for Strategic Studies and Predictions at the RUDN University.
The expert said: “I am convinced that this interview will be the key news topic for a week. Virtually all the Russians, who take interest in politics and international relations, will be riveted to it. A huge number of Russian citizens have relatives and friends in Belarus.”
In his opinion, an overwhelming majority of ordinary Russians are primarily interested in intercultural relations between the two countries. “They wonder whether all these attempts to rock the Belarusian boat will result in a quarrel between our nations, a split between them. They wonder whether we will lose our closest brother in the post-Soviet space like that. All the Russians are deeply concerned about it. Apart from political relations and economic ties they are concerned about the ability to meet with their friends and relatives, see them and communicate with them the way they've been doing all these years,” Pavel Feldman noted.
The expert continued: “The fate of the current president of Belarus, who has quite many sympathizers in Russia, and everyone knows it is another matter people are concerned about. He is quite popular in the post-Soviet space. This is why I would like his fate to be good, with nothing threatening him and his family, including the protesters, who are ready to break the law, forfeit rights and obligations and use unsanctioned means against representatives of government agencies.”
Pavel Feldman believes that Aleksandr Lukashenko's interview can be dislodged only by the planned meeting of the leaders of Belarus and Russia. “Certainly, the forthcoming meeting will be a big symbol,” the expert is convinced. “All of us would like to see some hint, an answer to the question about the future fate of Belarusian-Russian relations. By the way, this answer will not be indicated by some formal statements and joint declarations. It will be visible in the eyes of the two leaders: if they come to a complete understanding, I think residents of Belarus and Russia will be able to read it literally on their TV screens.”
