President Lukashenko: Belarus never to be Russia’s enemy

President Alexander Lukashenko has said that Belarus will never be an enemy of Russia.

Lukashenko made the remarks at a meeting on Belarusian-Russian cooperation, BelTA informs.

The Belarussian president noted that after the attempted rebellion in Belarus, the correctness of the chosen course towards rapprochement with Russia can be confirmed.

“These programmes [cooperation within the union state] do not affect the independence, sovereignty of either Belarus or Russia,” he said.

He spoke about the statements on the sovereignty and independence of Belarus in view of intensifying cooperation with Russia.

“Frankly speaking, taking into account all the difficulties, if the Russian Federation - the leadership wants to build relations with sovereign independent Belarus, if Russia perceives us as a sovereign and independent state, we are ready to build relations. We are a sovereign and independent state,” the president stressed.

He said that strategic issues, in particular, the economic issues, will be discussed first of all during negotiations with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Minsk on December 19.

The Belarussian leader noted that before the imposition of sanctions against Belarus and Russia, the Russians did not know what the Belarusians were capable of and the capability of Belarus as a high-tech country.

“When the sanctions were imposed, we and the Russians had to first of all look for a way out of some situations. Russia saw that Belarus is a high-tech country, it produces everything necessary. If Belarus doesn’t produce anything, then it can produce within two or three months, half a year,” Lukashenko said.