Posted: 07.06.2023 09:40:00

Do not let a wedge be driven between the CIS countries

The President of Belarus made a special emphasis on the key threats to the Commonwealth of Independent States during the meeting with participants of the 52nd session of the CIS Council of Heads of Security Agencies and Special Services


BELTA
Speaking about the situation in Ukraine, the Head of State stressed, 
“I absolutely agree with President Putin’s words that it was not us who started this war. It started long before 2014. With that coup that took place then, we saw where Ukraine was led. We saw who was in the forefront.”
Aleksandr Lukashenko is convinced that the Ukrainian authorities had many options to use to ensure their people live peacefully in all of Ukraine. 
“But neither former Presidents Yanukovich, Poroshenko, nor the current President Zelensky took advantage of any of them. Why didn’t they have a try? Did they want a war? No, they didn’t. They were just pushed to it by those who found their weak points to put pressure,” the Head of the Belarusian State said.
The President expressed confidence that if it had not begun just over a year ago, it would have started tomorrow, but with worse conditions for Russia and Belarus, “We saw this coming. The only mistake we made, probably, is that we didn’t resolve this issue in 2014-2015, when Ukraine had no army, no combat readiness… We wanted to settle it peacefully. They, however, used this time to develop combat-ready armed forces.”
This intention had already been confirmed by the participants of the then peace talks, including former French President Francois Hollande, “They frankly admitted that they were doing everything to prepare Ukraine for war with Russia.”
Addressing representatives of the security and special services of the CIS countries, Aleksandr Lukashenko highlighted, “We should all calm down. I just ask you to influence the policy inside your countries so that we do not separate. This can be very dangerous… Nobody needs us, except for the post-Soviet space that exists today after the collapse of the Soviet Union. In fact, we speak the same language, we have a single economy, we have common markets, industrial co-operation, and so on. Why should we break this common market?”
The President noted that the rapprochement of countries in the post-Soviet space brings them a significant economic effect. The Head of State drew attention to the fact that the West is constantly trying to bring Belarus and Russia to their knees, but this only leads to the opposite effect. 
The Head of State also added, 
“The military-political situation around the CIS is aggravating and will continue to escalate. We need to understand that the big players are trying to pull us, Russia, Belarus, the Central Asian states, apart, using carrots and sticks. We, people, must not allow this. This is my firm belief. I feel it in my gut. After all, I have been working as President for some time now. We see the growing militarisation of the NATO countries and the unprecedented concentration of troops near our common territory, incitement of religious, armed conflicts.”
BELTA

Aleksandr Lukashenko recalled the events in Poland, which dropped its old weapons to Ukraine, and now equips its army with modern American equipment, “The United States has designated Poland as the main pillar of NATO in Europe. But, fortunately (I am not rejoicing at this, but there is nothing to be sad about), they are creating problems not only on our borders but are picking up a fight with Germany. In my opinion, Poland, without any reason, acts like an elephant in the room. But this is up to them.”
The already powerful political and economic pressure by the United States and the EU is ever increasing, and blatant attempts to limit the scientific and technological development of the CIS countries continue, the Head of State noted. At the same time, 
Aleksandr Lukashenko outlined the growing contradictions between the United States and the European Union, “The United States is not only trying to use the European Union in the war in Ukraine (they have already robbed them blind) but also in their confrontation against China. The trade between China and the European Union is colossal. The EU are pragmatists, and they understand that the severance of relations between the European Union and China, which the United States is pushing for, will lead to even more sad economic consequences in Europe.”
At a meeting with the heads of special services, Aleksandr Lukashenko also named the main security threats for the CIS countries.
“Today one of the key threats is information and psychological warfare and fake information. The purpose of such actions is to undermine the authority of our states in the international arena. And not only that. Dangerous, aggressive actions are sometimes related to fakes.
The information and psychological warfare embraces everything: economy, scientific and technical co-operation, internet, and even armed provocations,” the President stressed.
The Head of State noted that the information monopoly of the West, in particular the control over the internet, the main social networks and international media, only serves this matter, “They protect this monopoly, as well as their manic desire to prevent a multipolar world, by the slogan of this fight for democracy. There is nothing behind their ‘democracy’. There is no democracy there. Thank God, we have already understood that. We have seen how they act in the United States and what they are trying to make us do. Using this slogan, the Western elites will be working to disrupt our integration processes, force our countries to abandon partnerships and artificially create points of tension in and around the CIS.”
“The most eloquent example of this is the current situation in Ukraine, which is used as a bargaining chip in geopolitical games today,” the President said.
“Intelligence information which we receive, including thanks to the partnership between the intelligence agencies, shows that the abovementioned threats will continue increasing in the foreseeable future. If some of us think that we will be able to sit it out, we will not. Recent events in Kazakhstan serve as a blatant example. There’s always an internal element. Such things do not come from nothing. There is always some internal element. There are forces, interested in destabilisation, returning to power, and so on. Foreign secret services quickly create a bunch of these elements around this internal one to destabilise the situation in our countries. Kazakhstan is a vivid example of it and of our strength when we act united. It may seem we did not do much, but they saw our determination and backed off. That is why we need to stand by each other. As far as Belarus is concerned, Poland, Lithuania and, unfortunately, Ukraine provide a training ground for members of illegal armed groups; these countries are trying to create dormant extremist cells in our country. We have fresh evidence of this,” the Belarusian leader observed.
The Head of State recalled the recent joint operations with Russia, that resulted in the seizure of explosives and hence the prevention of terrorist attacks in Belarus. 
“This fact shows that they won’t leave us alone. Militants are being trained in Ukraine; they are honing their skills on the frontline. Some of self-exiled Belarusians die there. Such units are being trained in Poland, Lithuania and Czechia to be sent to Belarus at the right moment. And this is no longer 2020, when girls went to rallies wearing short white skirts and holding flowers. People are ready to come here with weapons. Therefore, we have to pay a lot of attention to protecting our borders,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.
The President noted that it is no longer enough for the self-exiled opposition to make statements for the media to get funding from Western curators. Now they demand decisive action. In other words, money in exchange for terrorist attacks, an armed fight.
“In other words, they are preparing a violent scenario to topple the government. We see this. We will not allow this to happen. You are well aware that you are also facing these threats to some extent. Do not allow provocations and pressure. Any actions and decisions of the CIS states that do not meet the expectations of the West can become a pretext for accusations and sanctions,” Aleksandr Lukashenko stated.

Based on materials of sb.by and belta.by