Lukashenko: Russia frightened that Belarus will go towards West

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has attributed the worsening of his country’s relations with Russia to Moscow’s fears of Minsk turning towards the West.

According to Lukashenko, who spoke at a press conference on Friday morning, there are people in Russia’s administration whose position on Belarus is at odds with that of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Lukashenko added that Putin “probably knows something, but does not dare to say anything.”

Lukashenko criticized Russia after the FSB decided to restore a security zone on the border between Belarus and Russia without informing Minsk. Moscow insists said that measure was introduced to control the movement of citizens of other countries and would not affect the movement of Russians or Belarusians.

In January 2017, Belarus announced the introduction of a visa-free regime for citizens of 80 countries entering the country through Minsk airport, including the United States and the European Union. Citizens of these countries will be able to stay in Belarus for up to five days without visas. The visa-free regime will come into force in the first half of February.

The border between Russia and Belarus was virtually hitherto absent, not having been set by any treaties.