The veteran leader of Belarus on Thursday dismissed opposition fears that a poss...
MINSK - The veteran leader of Belarus on Thursday dismissed opposition fears that a possible integration pact with Russia could end with his country losing its independence to Moscow, saying the two countries were not discussing deeper political ties.
Alexander Lukashenko, in power since 1994, is due to hold talks on Saturday with Russian President Vladimir Putin on an integration road map, but a lack of detail on what it might include has fueled fears that Moscow aims to gain new influence in ex-Soviet Belarus as part of a creeping plan to absorb it.
“That will never happen while I’m in charge. It’s our country. We are sovereign and independent,” he added, saying the two neighbors were not discussing a unified parliament or other political questions. The Belarusian government says it stands to lose hundreds of millions of dollars a year from changes to Russian tax policy and wants compensation. Russia says the subsidies it pays to Belarus cost its exchequer billions of dollars.
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