BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS
DATE:
16/11/2008
Lukashenko's Iskander Statements Misinterpreted By U.S. Paper - Belarus Foreign Ministry
MINSK. Nov 16 (Interfax) - Belarusian Foreign Ministry has stated that The Wall Street Journal misinterpreted the statements made by country's President Alexander Lukashenko on the possible deployment of the Iskander missiles in Belarus as part of Russia's response to the U.S. missile shield in Europe.
"The material published by the said newspaper following an interview with the president, gives an absolutely wrong interpretation of the president's statements concerning the U.S. plans to deploy a missile shield in Europe and Russia's response, including the deployment of the Iskander missile systems," Belarusian Foreign Ministry's spokesman Andrei Popov said in Minsk on Sunday.
"The Belarusian head of state made no statement as to whether the country is planning to deploy the Russian Iskander missile systems in Belarus in response to the U.S. missile shield in Europe," he said.
"This can be easily verified by comparing the transcript of the president's interview with The Wall Street Journal, posted on the president's official website on the Internet".
The president said in his interview that, "as part of its re- armament program the Belarusian army should gradually replace its old missile systems by new, more sophisticated ones, including, possibly, Iskander missile systems," Popov recalled.
"It is absolutely normal and natural for any nation to re-arm its army," the Belarusian diplomat said.
Those are not "tomorrow's" plans, he said. "This work will be done gradually, including as soon as financial opportunities arise in Belarus," Popov said.
Source:
http://www.istockanalyst.com/article/viewiStockNews+articleid_2803288.html
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