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Lukashenko refutes media allegations that Minsk sought to bargain preferences from Moscow

There might be someone who wants to nip something off Russia or demand something from it in these hard times, but, definitely, it is not Belarus, the country's president says
Alexander Lukashenko Mikhail Metsel/TASS
Alexander Lukashenko
© Mikhail Metsel/TASS

MOSCOW, December 23. /TASS/. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko on Tuesday refuted media allegations that he had planned to use the current situation to bargain preferences from Russia at a summit of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO).

“There might be someone who wants to nip something off Russia or demand something from it in these hard times, but, definitely, it is not Belarus. So please don’t pass the buck to Belarus,” Lukashenko told a news conference after the summit. “We did not come here with an outstretched hand. Should our Russian brothers need anything and if we can give it — the president knows — we are always ready to lend a shoulder.”

The Belarusian leader also commented on media allegations that Putin did not want to meet with him in the framework of the summit. “We discussed the entire spectrum of problems concerning the Belarusian-Russian relations with Vladimir Vladimirovich (Putin). It is not that complicated: it can always be resolved should the presidents tackle it,” he said, adding that these problems were being solved.