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Crisis in Belarus

Despite sparring on many issues, Lukashenko stands with Putin on security

The Belarusian president is certain it is too early to relax

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko BelTA/TASS

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko

MINSK, September 9. /TASS/. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko hopes that he and Russian President Vladimir Putin will learn some lessons from the current situation and not repeat the mistakes of the past.

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"We make numerous decisions but fail to implement many of them," he said in an interview with Russian media outlets aired on Wednesday. "We got to the point where we unleashed gas wars, milk wars, candy wars and oil wars. We reached a point of absurdity. I do hope that we have derived a proper lesson from this situation. This concerns the presidents of both countries. During talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin about six months ago, we discussed this issue and agreed that we may spar in a manly way over any issue, but defense and security will remain sacrosanct."

Lukashenko said the latest events in Belarus proved this once again. "Remember when I said – and you laughed at it then - that perhaps we would see the day when Putin and yours truly would have to stand back to back to fight against the attackers. You took that as a joke then! Now you can see how reality has turned out," the Belarusian leader insisted.

Lukashenko is certain it is too early to relax. "This is just the beginning, as I often say to my fellow citizens," he stated. "It’s not the Poles behind this. It’s just Poland’s policy. Belarus has been the first to take the blow. Through Belarus they’ll hit Russia and do you know what forces are behind this? It’s wrong to trivialize anything!"

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