6 Nov 2018 15:49

No conflict in Europe, including Ukraine's, can be solved without U.S. - Lukashenko

MINSK. Nov 6 (Interfax) - The security of the entire European continent depends on the United States, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said.

"This [trans-Atlantic partnership] is the main pillar of our planet, and God forbid its destruction. We are confident that the consolidation of the countries in the region and the preservation of the U.S.' military-political role in European affairs determine the security of the entire continent. We aren't exaggerating here. Unfortunately, we can't resolve a single issue without America, including the Ukrainian conflict," the state news agency BelTA quoted Lukashenko as saying at a meeting with a group of U.S. analysts in Minsk on Monday.

As a European country, Belarus is interested in a strong and united Europe and in a strong trans-Atlantic partnership, he said.

"Understanding that our security depends directly on the situation around us, we are making efforts to stabilize the regional situation rather than shatter and strain it. In the current conditions, any actions violating the fragile status quo in the region threaten another round of exacerbation, which would inevitably affect our country as well," Lukashenko said.

Belarus is located between two major centers of power, he said. "You, as experts not only in foreign policy but also in military-political matters, don't need to be told how any military confrontation between the West and the East would threaten us. Our country is categorically not interested in conflicts, neither hot nor frozen ones. Not in neighboring countries, and even less in its own territory," he said.

Belarus's military doctrine is exclusively defensive in nature, Lukashenko said. "I've pointed out more than once that no threat will ever come from us to our neighbors," he said.