If we unite Belarusian and Russian markets with CSTO and EAEC we would forget sanctions in a month, Lukašenka says

March 12, BPN. Sanctions would not be effective if Belarus and Russia unite markets with allies in regional organizations, stated Aliaksandr Lukašenka during the meeting with Russian president Vladimir Putin in Moscow on March 11.

“We need to unite within the CSTO (Collective Security Treaty Organization) and the EAEU (Eurasian Economic Union). After all, everyone said that we belong together,” Lukašenka said.

Lukašenka is convinced that by uniting the markets of the two integration organizations, “we will forget about the sanctions in a month.” “I think we’ll do better than the Soviet Union did,” he said.

Belarus “has already got used to” the Western sanctions, said Lukašenka, describing their imposition as “disgusting.” “Why disgusting?” he went on. “Because it’s all illegitimate, illegal, in violation of all international agreements and treaties. I’ve had enough of that.”

In his view, sanctions represent “a time of opportunity.” Lukašenka noted that in Soviet times, “we were under sanctions all the time and lived and developed quite well.”