Aliaksandr Lukashenka has urged to remove disagreements within the Slavonic unity and to stop the fratricidal war in Ukraine as soon as possible at the celebrations that took place in the agrotown of Aleksandrya, Shklou District, on 5-6 July.
“Who would have thought that a real war could break out at our door, so close to Belarus? Unfortunately, the Slavonic unity, let us be frank, has cracked. We should do our utmost to resolve the situation in our brotherly country – Ukraine – as soon as possible. It is not easy, but it should be done,” state-owned news agency BelTA quotes Mr Lukashenka as saying.
He emphasized that thanks to their unity the Belarusian people managed to avoid the turmoil that is happening in various parts of the world.
The relations between the Customs Union's members are a bit strained, independent experts say. Neighbouring Ukraine is facing problems due to Russia's actions. Not long ago Belarus and Kazakhstan disobeyed Russia's wishes in the Ukrainian issue: Minsk and Astana decided against imposing economic sanctions on Kyiv at the recent meeting of the Eurasian Union Commission. The deeper the integration processes are the more Aliaksandr Lukashenka is getting concerned: in his latest address to the nation Lukashenka put an emphasis on Belarusian independence – it seems as if he tried to forestall President Putin's visit. At the same time, in early July Aliaksandr Lukashenka repeated his promise to Mr Putin that Belarus and Russia 'would always be together'.
