OREANDA-NEWS. July 05, 2010. President Alexander Lukashenko gave an interview to CNN.

Cable News Network, CNN, was founded in 1980 and is a division of the Turner Broadcasting System. CNN owns over a dozen of cable and satellite news channels, two radio stations and six websites. CNN has 35 international offices; it broadcasts in six languages and employs over 4,000 reporters around the globe.

Most broadcasting is done from the CNN Center in Atlanta, GA, and from the studios in New York and Washington. CNN news is broadcast to more than 200 countries (the rough estimate of the audience is over 200 million). CNN pioneered in the 24- hour news broadcast.

The CNN journalist interviewing the President was interested in Belarus’s domestic policy and the nation’s development prospects. A large part of the interview concerned Belarus’s relations with its eastern neighbour, Russia.

Losing Belarus would be an irreparable loss to Russia, Alexander Lukashenko said.

Referring to the recent disagreements in the relations between the two countries, the Belarusian President said that if Russia continued to pursue its policy the way it did, "it would be much harder on Belarus." "This sort of policy from Russia will lead to very bad consequences for the Russian Federation itself," said the Head of State.

"I do not think that this is an officially recognised course in Russia and that Russia will follow this course. Otherwise Russia will lose Belarus, and it will be an irreparable loss, a great loss from the moral, material, military and political points of view, and in general, considering any aspect, it will be a big loss to Russia," said the President. Alexander Lukashenko said he was trying to separate the relations between the peoples of Belarus and Russia and the relations between the governments of Belarus and Russia. There is a great difference between these two types of relations, according to him.

"Nobody can disrupt the normal state of affairs which very essence is that we are very close people. In fact, we are one people; it is very hard to divide us. I proceed from this premise as well. We have never been enemies at whatever stage in history. And believe me – enemies we will never be. And as for our conflicts and heated arguments – particularly in economic matters, – it is perhaps only natural. We are a young sovereign state. Russia is positioning itself like that too. Some time will pass, a certain period, a period of adjustment, so to speak, before we understand who we are, what relations there should be between us and so on, before Russia gets used to the fact that Belarus is a sovereign and independent state," said the President.

Belarus has absolutely nothing against living in unity and friendship with the Russian people, the President continued, but will oppose strongly any attempts by "either the Americans, Europeans or Russians at making us toe the line in any way, getting a stranglehold on us and tightening it." "If we position ourselves as a nation, as a people, we cannot allow it. Everything else is not as important as that," said the Head of State.

On the whole, Alexander Lukashenko said he believed Belarus has a bright future of intensive development. Our nation is building friendly relations with many countries. "We have a lot of reliable friends. Besides Russia and the European Union, we have wonderful relations with Venezuela, Iran, northern African states, countries of the Middle East, including Israel," he said. "Although the relations between your country and ours are rather chilly, it does not prevent the Americans to invest in our economy," he added.

One of Belarus’s largest partners and good friends is the People’s Republic of China. "We have very good relations," said the President. "I am grateful to them for coming to the aid of us by opening credit facilities to a total of nearly USD20 billion for the development of our economy. The Chinese have a big business presence here and use Belarus as a sort of business outpost in their dealings with the European partners."

"Therefore we will survive," said the President. "I am confident in the future of my country, my people. As the Head of State, I have always worked hard to ensure that our 10 million people have a normal life, that they are cheerful and kind-hearted as they are today," he concluded.