OREANDA-NEWS. Minsk will be ready to block gas transit to Europe if Western sanctions put it in a state of emergency and there is no way out to respond with other measures, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said in an interview with Turkish broadcaster TRT. He noted that he considers such a reaction as an extreme measure.

«If the sanctions they impose or will impose in the future put us in a state of emergency and we will have no way out to respond to their sanctions with other measures, we will use this harsh measure», Lukashenko said.

Earlier, the Polish media Biznes Alert stated that Lukashenko's words about his readiness to block gas transit to Europe in no way run counter to Russia's interests. Only Moscow could give the corresponding signal to Minsk. According to columnist Mariusz Marshalkovsky, Minsk's threats were particularly acute during the Belarusian leader's interview with Russian journalist and TV presenter Dmitry Kiselyov. Before that, the president of Belarus provoked the migration crisis, and now he is engaged in energy.

Prior to that, it was reported that the Belarusian authorities had adopted a package of retaliatory measures against Western sanctions. It includes a ban on the import into the territory of the state of certain groups of goods from countries that adhere to the policy of restrictions on Minsk. In addition, the lists of persons whose entry into Belarus is undesirable have been expanded.