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Lukashenka accuses Russian leadership of “assessing sacredness of brotherly ties in cubic meters of gas and barrels of oil”

Alyaksandr Lukashenka has sent an open letter to the newspaper Pravda of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, in which he accuses the “Russian leadership” of “assessing the sacredness of the brotherly ties [between Belarus and Russia] in cubic meters of gas and barrels of oil.”

According to the Belarusian leader, he has found it necessary to inform the newspaper about the real reasons behind the recent Belarusian-Russian gas conflict, as quoted by BelaPAN.

The conflict is “just part of the unfriendly policy that has consistently been pursued regarding Belarus in recent years,” Mr. Lukashenka said, noting that the purpose of the policy was to force the leadership of Belarus to make concessions to the detriment of the national interests of the sovereign state, and to obtain lucrative assets in Belarus.

“We in Belarus can see all this and assess this adequately,” Mr. Lukashenka said. “As a result, among our citizens, there are, unfortunately, increasingly less supporters of deep integration with Russia. Belarusians are beginning to be watchful of the closest country to us, Russia, expecting the most unpredictable blows from it.”