Lukashenko sees sanctions as opportunity

MINSK. March 11 (Interfax) - Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko spoke of new economic opportunities for his country and Russia amid Western sanctions.

"Today, sanctions for us are a time of opportunities," Lukashenko told his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin at their meeting in Moscow on Friday, the beginning of which was aired by the Rossiya-24 (VGTRK) television channel.

Lukashenko said that both countries were now used to the West's illegitimate sanctions which to him, a person from the Soviet era, were nothing unusual or insurmountable.

"I've been in constant contact with you, as if we felt that times would be tough. The Russian Federation, to say nothing of [Belarus], have been forever under sanctions. These have gotten much bigger now. But we're already used to this Western, if you'll excuse the expression, piggishness," Lukashenko said.

The sanctions are illegitimate and trample on all international norms, he said.