MINSK, April 10. /TASS/. Belarus and Russia are holding talks for Russia to defend Belarus, if it comes under attack, as its own territory, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said at a meeting with Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu in Minsk on Monday.
"In general, it sounded at the talks [with Russian President Vladimir Putin] like in the event of an aggression against Belarus the Russian Federation will protect Belarus as its own territory. This is the kind of security [guarantees] that we need. We need from our brotherly Russia complete security guarantees," Lukashenko said, the BelTA news agency reported.
According to the Belarusian president, Vladimir Putin said at the talks that it was necessary in that context "to take stock of all agreements and pacts between Russia and Belarus and look what bilateral legal act needs to be adopted now in order to ensure the full security of Belarus."
Lukashenko stated that Western countries don’t comply with, and essentially tore up the agreements on security assurances that were provided as part of the Budapest Memorandum in exchange for giving up nuclear weapons. He said the agreements also covered economic security.
"What economic security is it if they impose sanctions on us, on Russia!" the Belarusian president said. "So, I brought up this issue at the talks with the Russian president. He gave me absolute support in all areas."