LUKASHENKO URGES RETURNING UKRAINE "TO BOSOM OF THE TRUE FAITH"
Interfax-Religiia, 7 January 2022
Belorussian President Alexander Lukashenko urged his fellow countrymen to be sovereign and independent, but at the same time to be closely linked with Russia, Kazakhstan and Ukraine.
"I took the tougher course in order the maintain our sovereignty and independence, so that we might be a state. But also to be closely linked with our nearest friends and brothers. Who are they? They are Russia, and Kazakhstan, and Ukraine. It does not matter what is happening there now. People there are destitute in the extreme. It cannot go on for so long," Lukashenko declared on Friday.
The president's words were quoted by the press service of the head of state.
"And we must do everything in order to return Ukraine to the bosom of our true faith. And such a schism has occurred there even in the religious dimension that will be very difficult to overcome. This is what they wanted to prescribe for us in 2020: autocephaly, a schism in our church, etc., etc. You know all this. We avoided this. And I do not want this to be repeated with our neighbors," Lukashenko emphasized. (tr. by PDS, posted 7 January 2022)
LUKASHENKO DECLARES THE IMPORTANCE OF PRESERVING RUSSIA AS CENTER OF CIVILIZATION AND ORTHODOXY IN POSTSOVIET SPACE
Interfax-Religiia, 7 January 2022
Belorussian President Alexander Lukashenko expressed the conviction that the attack on Kazakhstan is in line with the general trend of pressure on Russia along the entire perimeter of its boundaries.
"Kazakhstan is an attempt to attack the postsoviet states along Russia's perimeter. They need to drown Russia in blood," he declared on Friday during a visit to a church on the occasion of the Christmas holiday.
The head of state's words were quoted by the state news agency BelTA.
"I repeat once again: if Russia collapses, then we will not notice where we wind up. They will simply pass over us. As I say, they will grind us between the millstones and spit us out. Therefore whatever it takes, we must preserve the center of our civilization, the center of our Orthodoxy, and not merely that. Those lands which today are a part of the Russian Federation. This is all philosophy. I want for you to understand this," the president added. (tr. by PDS, posted 7 January 2022)
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