MINSK. March 1 (Interfax) - Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko has said he is confident that the Russian authorities have no plans to make Belarus part of Russia.
"I have never heard any ambitions, at least on the part of the president of Russia, that it is necessary to incorporate Belarus or make it part of Russia. There were even no such sentiments. I would have sensed that," Lukashenko said at a meeting with public figures and journalists in Minsk on Friday.
"Therefore, I'm telling you sincerely and honestly that there are no intentions to absorb Belarus," he said.
If a referendum on the unification of Belarus and Russia was held in Belarus today, "98% [of Belarussians] would vote against it," he said.
There are no anti-Russian sentiments within Belarussian society, Lukashenko said in explaining why such a vote would have this outcome.
"A new generation has come of age, and the older generation has realized that we can live and cooperate in an absolutely different form - as friends and family," he said.
"Today's Belarussians want to be with Russia, but to live in their own apartment. Is that bad?" Lukashenko said.
"I think that it is necessary to follow this path, and, when discussing this issue with the Russian president, we reached a clear agreement that no pressure must be exerted on the situation today, that no detrimental steps must be taken," he said.