October 16, Pozirk. Alaksandar Łukašenka criticized Russian leaders as “brazen people without conscience” in 2002, Mariusz Maszkiewicz, a former Polish ambassador to Belarus, recalled during an online meeting hosted by Belarusian Free University yesterday.
As Maszkiewicz was completing his stint in Minsk 22 years ago, he met Łukašenka who was furious after Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin had invited Belarus to join the Russian Federation.
Shortly before their meeting, Putin had rejected the Belarusian ruler’s request for economic concessions.
“We need to understand what we want and what our partners want. Flies are separate and cutlets are separate,” Putin said.
“Łukašenka was so angry that he wanted to demonstrate that he could be friends with Poland. That is why he agreed to meet me,” Maszkiewicz said, noting that Łukašenka even called him a friend of Belarus although the envoy had a reputation as a critic of the Belarusian government.
Moreover, at the time, Minsk accused Warsaw of aggressive intentions towards Belarus and bilateral relations started deteriorating.
Maszkievicz said that he had suggested that Belarus follow Russia’s lead in following through with market-oriented reforms, but Łukašenka retorted that the ambassador did not know “who is Putin” and that he would see who he is in the future.
According to Maszkievicz, the Belarusian strongman made it clear that he did not trust the Russian leaders and described them as brazen Federal Security Service (FSB) people without conscience.
