OREANDA-NEWS. August 28, 2009. Belarus has never betrayed Russia and will never do it in the future, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko said in an interview to the Formula of Power TV show.

Alexander Lukashenko underlined that Belarus remains a reliable partner of Russia. “Do not forget that Belarus is your only reliable strategic partner. It has always been this way,” the Belarusian head of state said.

He stated with regret that the Russians do not know what really happens in Belarus. “The political elite of Russia has no idea what is going on in Belarus. They read biased newspaper articles written by people who hate Belarus and then say that Belarus veered to the west. You should better look for information in official sources, you’d better ask me in what direction Belarus is going: the west or the east,” the President said.

Alexander Lukashenko gave an example: Vladimir Zhirinovsky who used to be a strong supporter of Belarus-Russia cooperation now says that Russia does not have any brothers. The Russian President does not respond to such remarks. Why cannot he say that the Belarusians are more than brothers?” Alexander Lukashenko said.

“When I criticize something about Russia, I do not mean Russian people. I criticize individual officials of the Russian Federation. They criticize me, too. This is a normal style of our relations,” the President said.