OREANDA-NEWS. President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko said on Thursday that the country's authorities will not close borders, despite the actions of other states in a pandemic.

"We have identified three corridors along which people and goods are still moving. And we are not going to close until there is such a need. We control people, goods, it’s not easy for us and it isn't cheap, but we act like that", the president said at the meeting on priority measures to ensure the sustainability of the national economy.

Lukashenko noted that when Russia closed its borders, it negatively affected the Belarusian economy. "The breakdown of existing economic ties and the closure of borders, including our main partner, the Russian Federation, which closed the borders, hampering and stopping all movement of people. Naturally, this affected the economy", Lukashenko said.

According to him, in addition, oil restrictions by the Russian Federation negatively affected the economy of the republic. “At the end of last year and at the beginning of this, we started with an oil and gas pandemic. Russia stopped supplying us with the necessary volumes of oil. This hit our economy painfully”, he said.