MINSK, 11 November (BelTA) - Belarus is ready to hit back hard at the new packages of European sanctions, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko said as he hosted a meeting with the senior officials of the Council of Ministers in Minsk on 11 November, BelTA has learned.
"They have started to intimidate us with the fifth package. With regard to this fifth package, the prime minister has been instructed to think of retaliatory measures. Poland is threatening us with the border closure. They are welcome to do it. The fewer opposition-minded people will go there. But the point is not about that. I have just heard what these brainless people have been babbling about. They are contemplating the closure of transit through Belarus. But it will not go through Ukraine as the Russian border is closed there. There are no routes through the Baltic states. But if it is us who will close it for Poles and, for example, Germans, what will happen then? We should not stop at anything when defending our sovereignty and independence," Aleksandr Lukashenko stressed.
The head of state also noted that the main transnational gas pipeline Yamal-Europe goes through Belarus, and recently Russia has significantly increased the volume of gas transit to the West. "We provide heat to Europe, and they are threatening us with the border closure. What if we block natural gas transit? Therefore, I would recommend the leadership of Poland, Lithuanians and other brainless folk to think hard before opening mouth. But it is up to them. They are welcome to close the border. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs should warn everyone in Europe that if they impose additional sanctions, ‘indigestible' and ‘unacceptable' for us, we will hit back. We agreed with you six months ago on the way we would do it," the Belarusian leader said
