"I’m not exactly ’burning with desire’ to meet Trump. It’s necessary for ’major deal’ between US and Belarus," — Lukashenko
Alexander Lukashenko, who seized power in Belarus, has stated his willingness to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump and conclude a "major deal" once the necessary issues between the parties have been resolved.
According to Censor.NET, he made this statement in an interview with BELTA.
Lukashenko says he is ready to meet with Trump
According to him, as soon as the parties have everything ready "at the lower level," he is ready to meet with Trump.
"I am ready for this meeting. We are ready to reach an agreement, but it needs to be worked out so that it takes into account the interests of both the United States and Belarus," he assured.
At the same time, Lukashenko emphasized that such a meeting is not an end in itself for him.
Commenting on reports of a possible visit to the United States, he stated that he was not seeking to make the trip just for the sake of the meeting itself.
"It's not true that I'm dying to visit the United States and just shake Donald Trump's hand. To be honest, it would be nice to meet him face to face and shake his hand. But that's not the end goal; it's not the main thing," he added.
"The Big Deal"
Lukashenko also mentioned a "major agreement" which, according to him, has been under discussion since the beginning of contacts between Minsk and Washington, though the parties still need to resolve a number of issues.
He added that, in his opinion, the sanctions had not had the desired effect.
"Americans need to understand that sanctions haven't worked. We've adapted, so political prisoners, sanctions... Listen, that's a minor issue," Lukashenko said.
