Belarusian opposition leader promises to relook at all relations with Russia
Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, a former presidential candidate and opposition leader, said that if the new government came to power, all the agreements of Belarus with Russia would be reconsidered.
"Whatever Alexander Lukashenko agrees on, he has lost the support of the Belarusian people. This means that all its deals and contracts will be relooked and annulled by the new government," Tikhanovskaya wrote on her Telegram channel.
She spoke in favor of friendly relations with Moscow, noting that the sovereignty of Belarus "cannot be traded."
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov arrived in Minsk the day before. At a meeting with the Russian minister on November 26, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said that he saw no need to reset relations between the two countries. "As for the Belarusian-Russian relations, we should, perhaps, not talk about some kind of reset, but about strengthening and intensifying our relations," Lukashenko said.
According to him, Belarus would like to have "not just good-neighbourly relations" with Russia, but "very close, fraternal relations." Lukashenko expressed confidence that Moscow also wants to maintain friendly relations with Belarus.
After the meeting with Lukashenko, the Russian Foreign Minister said that both countries are committed to all agreements reached at the highest level.
Protests have been continuing in Belarus since August over the results of the elections, according to which Alexander Lukashenko was declared the winner. Protesters insist that the results were falsified.
The EU has already imposed two rounds of sanctions against Belarusian officials. The so-called blacklist includes 55 representatives of the country's leadership, in particular Alexander Lukashenko and the security forces. They are banned from entering the EU and their European bank accounts will be frozen if found.
Ukraine, as well as the EU and the United States, did not recognize the results of the elections as honest and reflecting the real will of the country’s citizens.