BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

26/01/2007

Belarus won't drastically change foreign policy - Lukashenko

MINSK, January 26 (Itar-Tass) -- Belarus will not drastically change its foreign policy, President Alexander Lukashenko said on Friday.

"The republic has found its only possible way," he said. Belarus is located in the center of Europe, so it must have "normal relations with the East and the West, as one does not choose neighbors," he said.

"Deteriorated relations with the West are not our fault. The West has realized what Belarus is. It has also realized that it would not ensure energy security without Belarus," Lukashenko said. The transit nations (Belarus and Ukraine) are no less important than Russia, which supplies energy resources, he said.

Lukashenko said that Belarus and Russia "should cool off, think about the current situation and try to avoid an insuperable deadlock."

Source:

http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=11193921&PageNum=0