MINSK, August 8. /TASS/. Relations between Belarus and the United States had always been good until deteriorating after the start of the special military operation, the republic’s president, Alexander Lukashenko, said in an interview with Time magazine, streamed on News.by.

"We have always maintained good relations with the United States, and I even teamed up to play hockey with some ambassadors," Lukashenko recalled.

According to him, relations between Minsk and Washington have deteriorated since the special military operation. He also recounted how Belarus conducted an operation to release the drivers of trucks seized in Ukraine in that period.