Belarusian President Slams Proposals to Turn Away from Russia, Side with Ukraine


TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Proposals that Belarus abandon cooperation with Russia and throw its support to Ukraine are unacceptable, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said.

"Some from the outside are giving us advice, throwing in ideas and urging us to back down here and give something up there. The idea is that we should forget about Russia and turn away from Russia. 'Go fight against Russia together with Ukraine,' they say, 'and we will deploy NATO forces close to (the Russian city of) Smolensk,'" he said, TASS reported.

This is how far it gets. I’m receiving proposals from all sides, and 99% of them we cannot accept," Lukashenko pointed out at a meeting of the country’s Teachers’ Council, according to the BelTA news agency.

The president said he would like the Belarusian people to understand the situation they lived in. "Do your thing and I will do mine together with my colleagues in the government and other senior officials," Lukashenko added.