Lukashenka warns West over pressure

Belarus will get in a closer touch with neighboring Russia, if the West steps up pressure on this country, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenka said Thursday in an interview with the Austrian news agency APA. "I think that in the near future unde this massive pressure by the West on Belarus, our relations with Russia will become even closer", he said.

Nasha Niva newspaper notes that this is the first time for Lukashenka to demonstrate openly his policy of blackmailing Russia by a shift toward the West and threatening the West to liquidate the independence of Belarus for the sake of economic advantages.