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Lukashenka says he cannot accept the term “partner” with regard to Belarusian-Russian relations

Alyaksandr Lukashenka said during his meeting with the governor of Russia’s Kurgan province, Oleg Bogomolov, in Minsk on Tuesday that he could not accept the term “partner” with regard to the relationship between Belarus and Russia, as quoted by BelaPAN.

“[Vladimir] Putin likes to say, ‘pragmatic relations between partners,’ but I tell him: ‘We are not partners. I am not a partner to you. We are one nation. We are brothers. Partners are the Americans and the Europeans,” the Belarusian leader said.

“Russia cannot lose Belarus – I say this openly to your leadership,” he noted. “If this happens, then Russia will no more find any allies in the post-Soviet region and even the world.”