MOSCOW, January 10. /TASS/. Belarusians have brotherly feelings for all Russian nationals, not just for Russian people proper, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said in an interview aired on the Russia-1 TV channel.
"I was thinking more about what Russian citizens represent for Belarus, for Belarusian people, and also for myself. This is a very close brotherly nation, they are our brothers. And not just Russians, but all citizens of Russia, including Russians," he said in response to a question whether he considers Russia a brother, an ally, or a neighbor.
He noted that both Russia and Belarus have a "common root." "What have we got to argue over, first of all? Second, there is a country that will always provide support. As for Russia regarding Belarus, we can always rely on [our] big brother. At the same time, Russia is certain that in the Western direction it would have been complicated without Belarus," he added.
Russia and Belarus have a developed system of bilateral relations in all spheres. For instance, they share a common space of the Union State, participate in the CIS, the CSTO, the EAEU. The largest project implemented by the countries in 2020 was the launch of the first power unit of the Belarusian nuclear power plant built by specialists of Rosatom. Additionally, Belarus became the first country following Russia to officially register the Sputnik V vaccine against the coronavirus.