Lukashenko: We will preserve our civilization

Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko made some remarks about the dangerous trends in assessing the results of the Great Patriotic War as he spoke at a concert dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the complete lifting of the siege of Leningrad in St. Petersburg, BelTA has learned.

Opening the commemorative concert, the president made a small digression from the prepared speech. As a result, the emotional statement of the Belarusian leader received a standing ovation from the audience in Gazprom Arena hosting the concert.

Aleksandr Lukashenko said that on the way to the venue of the concert he and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin discussed how the results of the Great Patriotic War are assessed today.

"He recalled one terrible idea promoted by some disgraceful young people who have not seen the war, who have not seen serious grief. They say: ‘It was not worth defending Leningrad. The city should have been abandoned to save a huge number of people, more than a million.’ This is a dangerous trend,” the head of state stressed.

Following this logic, he noted, Moscow should have been abandoned too and in general why fight the enemy at all.

“I agree with the Russian president who says: ‘We would have lost our civilization and we would not live on this land today if we had not fought for every piece of land.’ But, as I mentioned, they look at the present from the past believing that it is not worth resisting or fighting. Today they are sharpening their swords on our borders to come to us. Again, they are coming to us to make us ‘better’. What our place will be? That is the major question we are trying to answer today. We are looking for an answer and rest assured we will find it. Let the memory of those who have passed away inspire us to work for the future of our peoples, for the sake of peace. We will preserve our civilization, of that you can be sure,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.