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Aleksandr Lukashenko

Minsk. – Belarusian president Aleksandr Lukashenko has said Belarus accepts Crimea to be a de-facto part of Russia. Lukashenko said no one is demanding that Belarus legally recognise Crimea as part of the Russian Federation. “Crimea isn’t an independent state. It’s part of the Russian territory. One can recognise or not recognise that, it will change nothing,” Lukashenko told reporters in Minsk yesterday.

The Belarusian president believes Ukraine should remain a unitary state and warned about the danger of its division into federal entities.

“Ukraine should stay one country, an undivided country that is not a member of any blocs. If NATO lands in Ukraine tomorrow, it’s categorically unacceptable to us,” Lukashenko stressed.

Lukashenko also stated that Belarus would build a relationship with the new Ukrainian government after it is elected.

He added that Belarus could not scrap its partnership with Ukraine, as their combined turnover of goods was US$7 billion last year.
The Belarusian leader also said he believed the West would not impose any serious sanctions on Russia for its policies on Ukraine. — Xinhua.