MINSK, June 20. /TASS/. Western countries will not leave member countries of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), a Russia-led security bloc, alone even after the conflict in Ukraine is over, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said on Tuesday.
"We have to understand that pressure will continue. Even if this conflict in Ukraine is ended, they will still not let us be. We should work out a common plan, not a forecast of what we will do, but a plan, first of all in the economy," he said at a meeting with the CSTO’s foreign ministers.
According to Lukashenko, this plan should involve all the CSTO nations. "It should be based on the assumption that we are in isolation, like the former Soviet Union," he said, adding that CSTO countries must decide what they can manufacture domestically. Domestic production, in his words, may amount to 90% "We will import the remaining ten percent until we are no longer dependent on these imports," he stressed.
He noted that each of the CSTO countries should "see itself" in this context. "If you disagree, then I think that we, with the Russian president, can implement this plan ourselves," he said, adding that there is no alternative, because no help is coming.
"The current situation in the world leaves no doubt that we must stick together. We must be united, especially in this difficult time," the Belarusian leader said. "Today, the aggressive hysteria, especially in the West, is killing the voices of wisdom and reason. They don’t want to hear Belarus’ initiatives on rebuilding trust, or enhancing regional and international security," he said.