Russia has violated bilateral border agreement, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenka said in Minsk on February 3 at a meeting with representatives of the public and reporters.
Speaking to some 50 Belarusian and foreign journalists, Lukashenka said Russia had “crossed out” border treaties with Belarus "with the stroke of a pen."
"We made agreements on transparent borders in 1995 and later, we were going to establish a Union State. Just imagine: there are some interstate relations, some agreements. And all of a sudden a minister, even be it a powerful one, connected to the FSB and all, with one stroke of a pen puts an end to all the agreements. How can it be?" Lukashenka said.
According to him, Russia’s decision to introduce controls on the border with Belarus is another political shot.
Lukashenka suggested that Russia has tried to bolster its influence over the smaller nation by seeking control of its energy pipelines and using supplies of oil and gas as a lever of power.
Lukashenka said that "independence cannot be compared with oil" and that his country, which has long relied on subsidized Russian energy supplies, will find other sources of oil and gas if needed.
Recall, Maria Vanshina, a spokeswoman for Belarusian Foreign Ministry, said on February 2 that Russia's decision to reinforce the border broke legal agreements between the two nations.
She warned Russian officials that many Belarusians see the move as a step to reintroducing full migration controls across the border.
The head of Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) signed an order introducing border controls in Russia's Bryansk, Smolensk and Pskov regions on February 1. The controls are set to come into force February 7.
