MINSK, 9 August (BelTA) – Last year's events revealed a lot and pushed Belarus and Russia toward more robust cooperation, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko said at the Big Conversation with the President, a meeting with the public, experts and media community in the format of a big press conference in Minsk on 9 August, BelTA has learned.
“It was a blessing in disguise,” the head of state said. “Belarus and Russia remained alone. The external attack was aimed at Russia through Belarus, as it has always been. We immediately understood what their goal was. Vladimir Vladimirovich [Putin] offered help, but I refused then. I said I was handling it. I asked him, however, to create a reserve of some 1,000 military just in case. It was unlikely they would have been used, because I had the army in reserve. I would not have hesitated to put it into action if I had seen that they had moved far beyond crossed the red line. We handled the situation. The reserve was disbanded and sent back to the places of their permanent deployment.”
According to Aleksandr Lukashenko, no other countries have such close cooperation as Belarus and Russia. This is why the states will easily overcome any sanctions imposed on them. “We do not need to worry. We are two self-sufficient countries. With our experience, we do not even need a lot of money to restore which once was destroyed and provide people with everything they need. We had times when, for example, women had to stand in line to buy a packet of washing powder. Within a year we were able to build a dozen factories to produce this product. We could not provide our own people with enough food, but helped others. We learn from our mistakes. Sanctions always mean an opportunity. If you do not want to supply us with anything, then you will get an embargo. We will do well without your supplies. We have a huge territory, vast experience and everything necessary to plow the land, sow and crop the harvest and feed our people,” said the Belarusian leader.
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