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| Europe |
| Belarus leader wants closer ties to NATO, Western nations |
| 2019-03-06 |
| [Miami Herald] MINSK, BELARUS - The authoritarian president of Belarus on Tuesday called for better ties with NATO and lifted restrictions on U.S. diplomats, an apparent bid to win concessions from Moscow by dangling the prospect of rapprochement with the West. Alexander Lukashenko's statement on NATO follows a decision by his main sponsor and ally, Russia, to charge a higher price for its oil supplies to Belarus. "If they shut doors to us, we will search for another way," Lukashenko said, adding that Belarus will seek to develop ties with the West and establish relations with NATO. Lukashenko has ruled the ex-Soviet nation of 10 million with an iron fist for nearly a quarter-century, relentlessly cracking down on dissent and free media. He has relied on loans and cheap energy from Russia to keep his country's Soviet-style economy afloat. |
| Posted by:Besoeker |