Deputy: sanctions pushed Belarus and other countries to form new picture of world security

In early June, Vladimir Putin and Aleksandr Lukashenko met in Sochi to discuss the issues of bilateral relations, in particular, the economy, security and opposition to Western sanctions. In his talk with Alfa Radio, deputy of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus Sergei Klishevich explained how our state – together with the allied countries – is moving towards the formation of a new picture of security in the world in response to the Western sanctions.

According to Sergei Klishevich, thanks to the international policy of Aleksandr Lukashenko, the sanctions had less effect on Belarus than on other countries, “For example, if we take potash fertilisers, their prices have jumped today. Somewhere there’re not enough fertilisers, but in the countries of the African continent, Latin America, these fertilisers are desperately needed so that people can get food. But they do not receive them, which is why they face hunger. Meanwhile, the Americans completely don’t care about what’s happening in Africa and other poor countries of the planet today, where people and children starve and die almost every day. The US is doing its job. The sanctions have affected us to a minimal extent. Of course, we feel that they are hitting our economy, but ordinary people don’t particularly feel this, primarily due to our President’s international policy. He has fairly wide and good contacts with many states of the world. We see that he has quite close contact with Russia. Vladimir Putin and Aleksandr Lukashenko are constantly in touch, all questions and problems that may arise are settled. And all this seriously affects the financial stability of our state, ensuring the normal development of our society and particularly each person. Each such meeting is work in the interests of the two states. We are exactly as necessary to Russia today as it is to us. The Russian political leadership understands this, and we see results.”

According to Sergei Klishevich, it is the sanctions that are pushing Belarus to establish co-operation with other countries within the framework of large integration structures, “We are talking about the SCO, and about the EAEU, and about other structures. We see that the process is already moving towards this. The purpose of these organisations is to create an alternative to the UN and other platforms that, in fact, have stood up to serve the interests of the United States and do not provide the tasks of peace and food security on the planet, for the sake of which these organisations were created. We see that the current security system, which was built after WWII, is now fading away, we are witnessing its decline. Against its background, there is a revival of a new security system, new organisations that will ensure the fair development of the world. I’m confident that Belarus will take its rightful place in this new strategy. Today it is one of the leading states that forms this agenda and promotes it in the world.”