MINSK, 21 July (BelTA) – By enforcing sanctions countries of the European Union tried to wipe their feet off Belarus and its people. Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko made the statement in an interview with the news agency Agence France-Presse (AFP), BelTA has learned.
Aleksandr Lukashenko said: “You spat on us, tried to wipe your feet off me, my country, and the nation. I didn't let you do it and will not let you do it. We will handle the sanctions. We've lost half a billion dollars in trade with you [France]. We will find it somewhere else.” But Belarusian losses will be less than $0.5 billion because Belarus-France trade continues one way or another. “Trade turnover has shrunk by 20% this year but we still trade with you and will continue trading even more. But tomorrow you will have nothing to feed people with. Drought and the rest… We may sell something to you. We always sold rapeseed oil instead of sunflower oil, olive oil to you and Europe as a whole anyway,” the president said. “We make a lot of rapeseed and sell to you and will sell to you. You need timber, furniture, and the rest. You bought them from us. We will continue selling them to you. Business will always find these ways. It is simply madness to introduce sanctions in this mutually dependent world. But you are doing it.”
