MINSK, 22 August (BelTA) – Belarusian self-exiled opposition has no bearing on agreements between Belarus and the United States, particularly concerning prisoner pardons, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko told journalists on 22 August, BelTA has learned.
“Our self-exiled opposition members have nothing to do with it. In fact, they insist on having ‘political prisoners’. They use it as a pretext to put pressure on the ‘dictator’. Without ‘political prisoners’ their entire narrative collapses. They [the self-exiled opposition] will no longer be needed there. This is the core of their policy,” the head of states said.
“Let me be clear to those in prison: they [the self-exiled opposition] need you imprisoned. You are more useful to them behind bars than free. Your imprisonment is their pretext to attack my policy and the ‘regime’ as they call it. This reveals their fundamental political strategy,” the Belarusian leader stated.
He reiterated that the self-exiled opposition has nothing to do with the Belarus-U.S. negotiations regarding the pardoning of a number of prisoners, but opposition members are furious that Aleksandr Lukashenko managed to strike a deal with the Americans: “You have to give credit where credit is due. If you are counting on something, and it is a positive step, then acknowledge it as such. Even Zianon Pazniak criticizes your calls for sanctions. He says sanctions aren’t aimed at the ‘regime’, they hurt the people and must be lifted. That’s a reasonable position, and our people understand this perfectly. Yet they insist on sanctions, on strangling us! This reveals the sheer nastiness they’re capable of.”
The same situation, according to the president, is with regard to the lists of 1,200-1,300 prisoners, which Donald Trump also mentioned: “They [the self-exiled opposition] constantly send lists to America, demanding the State Department pressure us on these issues. This is well-known. They are furious that we are negotiating without them, lamenting to each other: ‘How did they manage this without us? We’re being left out!’ Now they’re desperate to get involved.”
“I warned the Americans from the start: if we discover you are colluding with our self-exiled opposition and engaging in games alongside them, we will cease all negotiations immediately,” said Aleksandr Lukashenko.
“They say: ‘No, we are negotiating with you’,” the head of state said describing the response of the American side.
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