President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko treats Russia as his colony.
Andrei Suzdaltsev, associate professor at the Faculty of World Economy and World Politics at the Higher School of Economics, stated this in an interview with Moskovsky Komsomolets, answering the question of whether Lukashenko’s next re-election would be beneficial for Russia.
"No. Russia is interested in Belarus continuing to exist as a sovereign state between Russia and Poland. Moscow is always ready to support it, but it is ready to support it only under the condition of integration. Lukashenko will never agree to this, because he treats Russia as a colony,” the expert said.
According to him, Lukashenko was greatly impressed by the fact that the Russian Federation paid Ukraine money under the Naftogaz claim.
“When Moscow gave Kyiv 3 billion dollars, he was plunged into deep shock - why they were given it, but not him. Lukashenko hoped that Russia would be isolated as a result of the sanctions - and Belarus would become its only “window to the world.” The media even began to present Minsk as a kind of entrance to Europe,” the political scientist noted.
He also says that Lukashenko “was going to command Russia” through the post of head of the State Council of the Union State.
“From the point of view of the President of Belarus, Russians are barbarians who are not capable of anything. Even Petro Poroshenko never stooped to criticizing Putin’s personality. He never addressed him as “you,” did not wipe his feet on him, and so on. Since 2015, Lukashenko has recalled three times that Kaliningrad should be part of Belarus. The rest of the countries look at him and want to do the same - to scold Putin and receive billions of dollars in subsidies in return,” the political scientist emphasized.
At the same time, he did not answer the question whether Moscow has an alternative to Lukashenko in the upcoming elections.
“This question belongs to the closed part of politics. But in any state there are quite adequate people who will love their country and fulfill their obligations. Only very stupid people can believe that there is no person among Belarusians who can replace Lukashenko. By the way, he wants to rewrite the Constitution of Belarus for himself. In particular, they are going to consolidate the transfer of power by inheritance. Russia obviously needs a new face. It is clear that there will be no progress with Lukashenko,” summed up Suzdaltsev.
Earlier, as PolitNavigator reported, Lukashenko said that Russia The jans of Belarus are shamelessly profiting.
See also: “Lukashenko burned all his bridges” – the time has come to act.