Belarusian president: US will never be able to “handle” China

The President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, has said that the United States is not an “omnipotent superpower” and will ultimately be unable to compete successfully with China.

Speaking in an interview with RT, Lukashenko argued that while the U.S. remains a powerful state, it is no longer the sole dominant global force.

“In terms of its power, it is a superpower, but not a super force. Everyone has understood that. And America’s main enemy is China. If the Americans could not deal with Iran (I said this a long time ago), do not interfere with China. It is such a power that they will never be able to handle. The American leadership has realised that they are a superpower, but not a super force,” Lukashenko said.

He also noted that he is not eager to visit the United States: “It is not true that I am really burning with desire to visit the United States of America and simply shake hands with Donald Trump. I will say honestly, it would be pleasant to see this person face-to-face and shake his hand. But this is not a goal in itself. It is not the main thing.”

“If the American side sees that tomorrow there will be a meeting of a vassal with an emperor, that will not happen. This is not some kind of arrogance or ‘rooster-like’ politics. No, this is the policy of a real president who respects his own people.”

Lukashenko also touched upon the situation in the Middle East: “There will be no winner here. For now, peace has slightly prevailed. But it is very fragile; it must still be nurtured; a ceasefire has been declared. And peace must be achieved. And much here will depend on Donald Trump. It seems that, after all, his intuition and feelings have prevailed. And he understood that it cannot go further – otherwise there will be trouble.”

The Belarusian leader believes that the European Union should long ago have set not only a strategic goal, but also a tactical one – to be an independent pillar of this planet: “However they may treat me, you know, if you have closely followed my policy, I have always been in favour of preserving the European Union, not because they are friendly to us, and I tried to build relations with them. But because the European Union, the United States of America, China, and a resurgent India are pillars of the planet. And the more such pillars there are, the more stable the planet itself will be. I proceeded from this philosophical meaning and supported the European Union. And they kept strangling me.”