MINSK, October 28. /TASS/. The lack of progress in efforts to achieve de-escalation globally is the result of ignoring the principle of indivisibility of security, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said.
"The main reason for the lack of progress in global de-escalation is the consistent disregard for the principle of indivisibility of security. As a result, international relations today have to be characterized not in terms of trust and cooperation, but using data on kilometers of new barriers and megatons of deadly weapons. Such dangerous mathematics is no longer the fate of individuals, but of all humanity!" he told the International Conference on Eurasian Security.
According to him, ignoring the simple truth that the security of one state cannot come at the expense of another is a tragic, if not fatal, error. "The dramatic events in Ukraine and the Middle East clearly confirm this," Lukashenko said.
He added that Belarus remains open to dialogue and measures to reduce tensions with the West, yet Europe appears uninterested in peace. "At present, it seems that Europe does not want peace. Politicians have forgotten the horrors of WWII. They believe that expanding their military potential will protect them. It won’t, no, not at all! This is a path to nowhere, another rung on the ladder of escalation," the president stated.
Lukashenko said that Russia and Belarus are not interested in escalation in the territories of neighboring European countries. "It's complete nonsense. We would like to sort out the problems we already have. We are not aiming anywhere. We don't need Europe, Paris, or London. Even Lithuania and Poland. We don't need this escalation," he said.
Lukashenko wondered why Warsaw and Vilnius are increasing their military spending. "In several capitals, they chose not to solve the problems, but to cover up a future war. Do they really expect that putting the economy on a war footing will guarantee growth? For a couple of years, some kind of stagnation at the same level may be expected. Fat has been hoarded since colonial times. What did you get? Euroscepticism is growing, sparking domestic politics, and contradictions between individual EU states are intensifying," he explained.