MINSK, 22 August (BelTA) - Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko has expressed support for gradually improving relations with the USA as he spoke to the media on 22 August, BelTA has learned.
“Step by step, we will build relations with the Americans. It is a large country, a very important country. You can see that even Russia and China are trying to reach agreements with it. Although China could easily do without the USA. They have enough leverage. It is even more our calling. We will seek cooperation here. We will build relations with them. That is our goal,” the head of state said.
He emphasized that the same applies to immediate neighbors - the Baltic states and the Poles - with whom, as Aleksandr Lukashenko has stated before, Belarus should not quarrel but build relations.
Speaking about his recent telephone conversation with U.S. President Donald Trump, Aleksandr Lukashenko noted that it did not happen out of the blue. It is, among other things, the result of certain steps and specific negotiations with the USA. The talks were preceded by about five meetings, the recent one being with U.S. President's Special Envoy Keith Kellogg. The information about that meeting was made public.
“They suggested it about the recent meeting themselves: ‘Let people see’. We were not against it. We did not insist on it being public. For me, it made no difference, and I understood that as a result of some of our conversations, we would not get sanctions lifted there or reach any specific outcomes. Therefore, it was only for image,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.
In particular, following the meeting, decisions were made to pardon a number of convicts at the request of the USA.
According to the president, Belarus has taken several steps toward the USA and now expects reciprocal moves from the American side. “We told them: ‘Look, we have taken many different steps towards you and so on. Now we are waiting for concrete steps from you. I never even spoke about sanctions, I swear to you. Our people said – [Belarusian diplomat Valentin] Rybakov told him: ‘You know what Belarus needs’. I forbade them to ask for anything.”
According to Aleksandr Lukashenko, there is no particular reason for such pleas, although sanctions do have a certain negative impact on the country's life. Belarus, however, has largely adapted in many ways and has enough foreign markets where its products are in demand. “A country with a small economy like ours does not need much. Of course, if there were no sanctions, we would be living better. It goes without saying… There's nothing good about them,” the head of state said.
The president cited the examples of sanctions against the Belarusian airline Belavia and against supplies of potash fertilizers. “Well, if they lift the sanctions from Belavia and you start flying around the world freely again, that is probably important. But I don't think you are suffering because our Belavia is under sanctions. We fly to China, to all those countries, we fly across Russia. All the aircraft are in operation. Well, yes, they probably should be lifted. Because the imposition of these sanctions is ridiculous. As for potash fertilizers, we are selling everything, we even have growth. Yes, we lose a bit more on logistics, but we have gained our own ports during this time. I never thought a port was such a major deficit for a country. A critical deficit and a major advantage,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.
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