Some Russian media are trying to make fake news stories, Alyaksandr Lukashenka said on March, 5. It should be recalled that during Friday’s speech, he stated that 98% of Belarusians would vote against the country’s accession to the Russian Federation.
“This has become especially noticeable after the Big Conversation With President – there have been fake news, bias, attempts to quote my statements out of context and interpret them the way someone in the Russian Federation wants to,” he said.
Among other things, he used as an example the journalists’ unsights into the issue of introducing a single currency and to merging into one state. According to the Belarusian leader, Russian media often trigger stir and scandals by completely misinterpreting situations.
“Their aim is to accuse Lukashenka of torpedoing integration processes. But no one in Belarus is torpedoing integration processes, especially Lukashenka! This is our life… Integration is crucial for us,” he stressed.
In his opinion, Russia is constantly talking round the subjects of uniting or swift to a single ruble because they realize that Belarus is not ready for that.
“And if we fail to do that, there is no need. The case is that they do not want this integration. And one should not blame us,” he added.
As reported earlier, the Kremlin evaded commenting on Alyaksandr Lukashenka’s words about a would-be referendum.
At the end of 2018, the Belarusian-Russian relations significantly deteriorated. In late December. there were some meetings of Alyaksandr Lukashenka and Vladimir Putin. The Russian leader pressed for ‘further integration’ while his Belarusian counterpart insisted on reducing gas prices and getting compensation for the tax maneuver. The talks seem to have ended in deadlock.
In mid February, Lukashenka spent three days in Sochi where he repeatedly met with Vladimir Putin. They were reported to be discussing some of the most pressing issues, but no breakthrough was made.
