MINSK, 13 November (BelTA) – The West will never forgive Belarus for surviving its pressure, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko said in an interview with Igor Korotchenko, a military expert and Editor-in-Chief of the Russian magazine Natsionalnaya Oborona [national defense]on 9 November, BelTA has learned.
"Of course, they will not forgive me for that. They failed to overthrow some Lukashenko and to destroy Belarus," the president believes.
Aleksandr Lukashenko concurred with the journalist that should they have succeeded with a coup d'état attempt in Belarus, they would have destroyed everything achieved in the country, its economy and social sector.
"The Ukraine situation would have been mirrored here. You know what's going on there. A nightmare. Things would have been the same here. Even worse. Why? Because after all, Ukraine is richer: their land is fertile. Belarus is a northerner country. They still cover 30% of its natural gas needs from their own production. They extract some oil. Meanwhile, Belarus does not have any of that. So things would have been even scarier here. The Poles would have gotten their hands on this territory and would have approached Smolensk, as they once did,” the president said. “Everything was ready. NATO troops, Americans and others."
