Lukashenko refuses to recognize Crimea as Russian
Belarus does not recognize the accession of Crimea to the Russian Federation until all Russian oligarchs do it, said Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.
During the "Big Conversation" with journalists, Lukashenka recalled the Budapest Memorandum of 1994, which guaranteed Ukraine territorial integrity within the borders at the time of withdrawal from the USSR in exchange for giving up nuclear weapons.
The document was signed by Boris Yeltsin, Leonid Kuchma, Bill Clinton and the then British Prime Minister John Major.
According to Lukashenko, he also signed this document, but he is ready to "step over" his signature and recognize Crimea as the territory of the Russian Federation after Venezuela, North Korea, Cuba and Syria, Afghanistan and Kyrgyzstan. But to do this, Russian companies must start supplying products there and working on the peninsula, without fear of falling under harsh Western sanctions.
"When will Lukashenko recognize Crimea? I answer publicly: when the last oligarch in Russia recognizes Crimea and starts supplying products there," Lukashenka said.
He added that he had "his hands untied." "Ukraine is out, see what it is doing? And I recognize Crimea, and everything else," Lukashenka said.
As for the possibility of integrating Belarus and Russia into a single state, then, according to Lukashenka, this scenario is no longer being considered, and all the documents that are being prepared relate to economic ties and the creation of the same conditions for business of the two countries.
The 31st roadmap for political integration was "thrown out" at the initiative of Russian President Vladimir Putin, he said.
"It was a proposal of Vladimir Vladimirovich at one of the negotiations. He very wisely, cleverly said: "Listen, we come across it all the time... If we can't solve one 31 of this 31 roadmap, let's put it aside. Let's throw it away altogether," Lukashenka said.
"We will not lose anything, because we have not supranational bodies, but joint departmental bodies. For example, a joint board of the ministries of industry of Russia and Belarus, a joint board of the Ministry of Defense of Belarus and Russia, and they work," he explained.