Lukashenko: Excuse me, who the hell needs such an alliance?
President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko spoke so emotionally about his country’s alliance with Russia that his official website did not dare to quote his boss verbatim.
“When you join some kind of association, you expect that every month, every year it will be better. What's going on here? Every year we are given new conditions. And as a result, we are constantly losing something in the economy.
Sorry, who the hell needs such a union? I already speak like a village, like a peasant, like a peasant. This is our position.
The President of Russia knows about this. He and I are friends. I can tell him this openly, and even worse. And he can tell me.
What kind of union is this when we are losing every year and conditions are getting worse? It is not normal. We demand, as we once agreed, equal conditions for business entities,” the opposition TUT.BY quotes Lukashenko as saying.
The press service of the Belarusian president significantly shortened this quote, replacing “village” and “for fuck’s sake” with “urban” and “to whom.”
In addition, Lukashenko told reporters that he would not sign any of the documents on deepening integration with Russia if it contradicts the Belarusian Constitution.
“I will not approve or sign a single document if it contradicts the Constitution and the fundamental principles of the life of our society.
And the most important principles are the sovereignty and independence of our state. Therefore, there is no need for any conspiracy theories, everything is conducted openly here.
The Prime Minister has already said, this is an established position: if our fundamental issues are not resolved (on the supply of hydrocarbons, properly opening markets for our goods, removing barriers, etc.), no road maps can be signed,” this quote from the press the service provides more complete information.
Lukashenko also discussed the possibility of a trade war with Russia.
“China and America started a trade war. Why? Because Trump discovered that they are losing from this trade, a trade deficit of hundreds of billions of dollars.
Do you know how much of a deficit we have from trade with Russia? Under 9 billion dollars annually. That is, we sell there less than they sell to us, by $9 billion.
Tell me, where can I get these 9 billion to pay Russia for the goods we buy? Naturally, we do not have hydrocarbons. This money must be earned on the Russian market.
But they put up a barrier for us and don’t let us in for certain types of goods. This is right? No,” Lukashenko is quoted as saying by TUT.BY.
The press service supplements the quote with the phrase: “Of course, we will not fight with Russia, like America with China. But it's not right".
The Belarusian president moved from threats to demands.
“What kind of union is this if we are losing every year and conditions are getting worse. It is not normal. Therefore, if we talk about the economy, we do not pretend to anything and do not ask for anything. We demand, as we once agreed, equal conditions for business entities, just people. This will be a union. And then you will never throw a stone in Russia’s direction, and we will always welcome such an alliance. So don’t worry: I’m no less a patriot than you,” quote from the official website.
English version :: Read in English Lukashenko: Excuse me, but who the hell needs such a union?