Lukashenka: there is fire from coronavirus in Russia, but Belarus will not close border
On March 16, Lukashenka discussed the actions of Russia with the head of the Presidential Administration and State Secretary of the Security Council. Previously, Russia closed the border with Belarus due to the coronavirus.
“It’s strange that no one in the Russian government knows that Belarus and Russia have no border, it’s not delimited or demarcated. We have no border, so there’s nothing to close. Perhaps, they have already established this border,” said the head of Belarus, his press service reports.
At the same time, according to him, it’s much easier to close the border than open it later. Lukashenka also said that it’s impossible to fight with the coronavirus territorially. He notes that Russia should introduce internal borders between its regions in this case.
“Why did they cut off Belarus from Russia without thinking about the consequences? It seems to me that they are more concerned about how to fence off Moscow and think: God forbid, the Russian government will get infected. What will happen? God forbid, something will happen with Mishustin,” said President of Belarus.
According to him, Russia should “not close the border, but help us at our joint border of the Union State near Brest — both financially and with human resources”.
Lukashenka also stressed that Belarus should be afraid of Russia “affecting” it, as “they have a fire”. “So we should be afraid of this situation, why are you afraid of Belarus?,” he added.
Lukashenka threatens to retaliate
According to him, such decisions of the Russian authorities may affect the economy, including transit through Belarus and Russia.
“And the most interesting thing is that if you close the border — it’s probably not the government’s business. This decision should be made by the president of the country,” said Alyaksandr Lukashenka, adding that he has not yet contacted Vladimir Putin.
The head of Belarus urged the Russian side and the residents of the two countries not to create panic in order not to complicate the “already difficult relations between the two countries”. He notes that if Belarus reciprocates, “the trucks will be parked up to the Kremlin, while people will be furious.
