In an interview with RT host Rick Sanchez, held on April 17 in Minsk, Aliaksandr Lukashenka attempted to justify his “multi-vector foreign policy” and his contacts with the American side, emphasizing that he is not engaging in dialogue with the United States against Russia or China.
“Listen, you have always provoked us, Ukraine, and other post-Soviet republics against Russia. You have always provoked us. And Volodymyr Zelenskyy, if anything, knew this. He knew it. And I knew it too and still know it now. Listen, if someone in Russia reproaches me for holding talks with the Americans, I can ask them a question: ‘And don’t you conduct dialogue with the Americans? You do.’
But I conduct dialogue with the Americans not against Russia, not against China. At the first meeting I told them: ‘Guys, Russia and China are our long-standing not just partners, they are our friends. And when you imposed sanctions against us, the Americans and Europeans, China and Russia opened the door to us, and thanks to that we were essentially saved.’
Why should I today conduct some kind of dialogue and pursue some kind of policy against them? Moreover, we have legally signed a treaty of alliance with Russia. The closest treaty. We are trying to build some kind of Union State. We are moving as if on thin ice, trying to do something. Did the Americans and the West not know this? They did. And I strictly observe this treaty,” Lukashenka said.
He also explained that the multi-vector foreign policy is driven by economic necessity. According to him, Belarus sells more than half of its goods and services on external markets and is therefore forced to work with everyone — Russia, the West, China, and Africa.
“As for the multi-vector policy, it stems from the economy. You see, we produce — more than half of what we produce, material goods and services — and sell it on external markets. We have an open economy, so we are forced to pursue our interests in the West, in Russia, in China, and in Africa. Wherever everyone is going — Russia and the Americans alike. This is our interest in order, as I recently said, to live. Not to survive, but to live. This is our interest, it stems from life. What is there to reproach us for? There is nothing,” he added.
According to Lukashenka, he harbors no illusions about contacts with the West.
“And the real policy of the West has long been known to us. Whatever negotiations the West holds with me, I clearly understand that I am not their ‘son of a bitch.’ They would gladly chew me up and spit me out. I understand this perfectly well. But even in such a situation — not because I am Lukashenka, but because I am the president of this country, of this Belarusian people — I am compelled and must proceed from the interests of the people, not my own interests,” the politician said.
