You're reading: Lukashenko believes EU understands that sanctions have no prospects

BYKHOV, Mogilyov region, Belarus - The European Union has apparently realized that its policy of sanctions against Belarus has no prospects, and Minsk is prepared to discuss any problems with the EU without preconditions, President Alexander Lukashenko said.

"Perhaps they have realized that the sanctions are a way to nowhere and have no prospects. Perhaps they have realized that they need Belarus," Lukashenko told journalists during a working trip to the Mogilyov region.

"If the Europeans had seen that the sanctions were working and they could bend us any way they want, do you think they would have dropped them? Never. They would have pressured us, put us on our knees, and then driven us to the ground up to our knees or possibly even deeper," Lukashenko said.

The West understands the need for cooperating with Belarus both on economic and security issues and on countering illegal migration, he said.

EU countries might incur significant economic losses if they expand their sanctions and refuse to cooperate with Belarus, Lukashenko said. "I am not even talking about major losses that the Baltic ports would incur. I am not hiding it that we are negotiating with Russia to have it reduce its rail transport tariffs so we can load their [Russian] ports in the Baltic. They would be happy to see millions of tonnes of our cargo," Lukashenko said.

"We have also reached an agreement with the Ukrainians to increase the volume of shipments through southern ports," Lukashenko said. "If we are not needed in European Union countries, we will look for our happiness farther," he said.

"If the European Union is willing to talk with us without any preconditions and without bending us rightward or leftward, we are prepared to return to the negotiating table on any issue at any time," Lukashenko said. "We are not hawks, and there has never been and will never be a hawkish policy in Belarus. Therefore, we are prepared to sit and discuss any problems. But if someone presses us, we will respond," he said.