MINSK, 2 April (BelTA) – I believe that global players can capitalize on the world crisis caused by the coronavirus outbreak, Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko said in an interview to the Interstate TV and Radio Company Mir on 2 April, BelTA has learned.
“Any politician, let alone my position (I am responsible for millions of people, and not only my own: we have many neighbors whose lives depend on us in one way or another), should verify their specific tactical steps with the most viable strategy,” said Aleksandr Lukashenko.
According to him, today many people are already thinking about the main question: what will happen after the coronavirus pandemic is over? “Does it not seem that world powers (Macron has already called it a war) want to reshape the global order with the help of this so-called coronavirus psychosis, including infodemic spreads?” the president asked.
He recalled the UN proposal to print money to the amount of 10% of the global GDP to fight the coronavirus. "This is empty money. The US dollar is gradually depreciating. There will be a recession, inflation. It is clear where we will end up with our currency. Moreover: who will get those trillions, who will keep hold of them? Won't it happen that the rich will get richer and the poor will get poorer? That will be exactly like this. We have been pushed to stop, sit and eat away the scarce currency reserves we have. We cannot say that they are huge in Russia. Sitting idle, Russia will see its reserves vanish in less than a year. The same is true about us. Having printed those 10% of GDP, those who are ‘on their feet' will come to us and say: “We will give you a little, but you will do what we say. This is how the world can be reshaped,” the president said.
The head of state stressed that he is concerned about the future of the country, so he is trying to look further. “Today everyone says that the world will be different after the pandemic. I agree with it. But where will our place be in this world? That is the main question for me. Not coronapsychosis, not an infopandemic. We have this today, but it will pass in a month or two. The question remains where our place will be. That will be the question for everyone, for resource-rich Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Tajikistan, even more so for Armenia and Kyrgyzstan, Ukraine, and for Nauseda [Lithuanian president], who today is trying to question the policy of the President of Belarus. I am afraid that the world will be reshaped without war” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.
“Why do I insist on the economy to continue working? Because I am thinking about what will happen to us afterwards if we stop like many: Lithuanians, Latvians and others. They will survive. Russia has the oil and gas that the world needs today. China has huge economic capacities. There is a printing machine in the United States: they are injecting $2 trillion in their economy and $2 trillion more is in the pipeline,” said Aleksandr Lukashenko.
Photos by Nikolai Petrov
