«Despite all kinds of noise and certain outcries, both here and in your country, especially from abroad, we are following the path we set together with you,» the Belarusian leader emphasized.

He noted that the ministries of foreign affairs of the two countries are at the forefront of this process. «It is the foreign policy agencies, even when the situation intensifies and our defense agencies sometimes step forward. Or, as they call it in the USA, the Department of War [the USA recently renamed its Department of Defense to the Department of War],» said Aleksandr Lukashenko. «But only in the sense that we always prepare for war so that it does not happen. Whereas they have a Department of War to wage war every day. God forbid, of course.»