President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, in an interview with Russian media, spoke about the potential consequences of Belarus withdrawing from the CSTO, according to BelTA.
President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, in an interview with Russian media, spoke about the potential consequences of Belarus withdrawing from the CSTO, according to BelTA.
"We have Russian weapons. Let's take the simplest thing: withdrawing from the CSTO means not buying planes, helicopters, tanks, IFVs, and assault rifles at domestic Russian prices, but at world prices, if Russia even sells them to you. Russia would sell them, but if they offer you to join NATO, then you know the requirements: NATO armaments immediately. And what will they supply here? Junk to start with. And then you can buy it. But it will cost five times more than we buy from Russia today. Will this army exist? It won't," noted Alexander Lukashenko.
The Head of State drew attention to the fact that if Belarus decides to withdraw from the CSTO and join NATO, Russians will not stand idly by, as it is "not very pleasant to have tanks near Smolensk." "Russia will categorically prevent this. And what will we turn Belarus into? A centre of military operations – a clash between Russia and the NATO bloc," said the President.
Proposals to withdraw from the CSTO were contained in the programme of the Belarusian opposition, which was soon removed after publication, noted the Head of State. Furthermore, it proposed restricting the use of the Russian language in Belarus.
"We are speaking Russian with you. I constantly use the Russian language and clearly stated it in a message a year or two ago. Vladimir Vladimirovich (Putin. – BelTA’s note) saw this message, then quoted me on what I said about the Russian language and thanked me for it. I said: 'Wait, what are you thanking me for?' – 'There is no other attitude towards the Russian language like in Belarus' – 'And what are you thanking me for here?' – 'Well, still, the Russian language…' – 'No, the Russian language is also my language. It is a state language in Belarus, by the way'," Alexander Lukashenko shared his position on this issue.