The West should not use Ukraine to put pressure on Russia, Belarusian President Aliaksandr Lukashenka said during his meeting with Secretary of the Russian Security Council Nikolai Patrushev.
“The main thing is that Ukraine should remain Ukraine, not a NATO base near our borders. We do not hide our concerns. It is important for Russia and Belarus. And, of course, we would like this close Slavic people to stay friends with us. We want to trade with them, we want to live peacefully with them. Our culture, languages are similar. We lived well. We want to continue to live like this,” state-run news agency BelTA quotes Mr Lukashenka as saying. The Ukrainian people should arrange their lives the way they want, but they should not create problems for their neighbours, the head of state emphasized.
“Ukraine will not be with the West. It is not welcome there. The people there would like to cooperate. The politicians have gotten some kind of ‘mental meltdown. Sometimes it happens, you know. For us and for Russia this situation is dangerous only in terms of potential problems in the future,” he said.
“The West should not use Ukraine as a factor to exert pressure on Russia, first of all. And not only Russia, because the deterioration of the situation, including the economic one, affects all countries of the entire post-Soviet space,” Mr Lukashenka stressed.
