Lukashenko made a forecast about Ukraine: She'll be back

When sensible people come to power in Kiev, Ukraine can become a member of the Eurasian Economic Union. This was stated by the President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko in an interview with the MIR TV channel.

Speaking about the importance of the existence of the EAEU, Lukashenko drew attention to the fact that there is a lot to talk about, but he will name one of the main factors.

"We all still speak the same language. There is our main Russian language, which we speak. And this is a great thing. We don't need translators. The peasants can communicate with each other, the workers can communicate, the intelligentsia. I'm not talking about the leadership of the countries. It's very strong," he said.

In addition, according to him, there is a lot in common in the culture of the peoples of the EAEU states, who calmly interact with each other.

"Muslims, Jews, Catholics, Orthodox live here. Are we looking at each other like an animal? No, we have found an understanding. Yes, there are certain tensions, they will always be. But we are united, we are our own people. We celebrate Easter, we celebrate Nowruz... both Muslims, Christians, and Jews," the Belarusian leader noted.

Lukashenko believes that on the basis of all these relationships it is necessary to build and develop closer trade and economic cooperation.

"It is a great thing that we have preserved this unity. We need this in order to preserve our market. The market is life. We need to master our market, we need to develop and, roughly speaking, seize other markets, cooperate with other countries, and not compete without benefit here. We need to unite. And we can do this within the framework of the Eurasian Economic Union, where we are the presiding officers. Well, there is something in the framework of the Commonwealth of Independent States, where we have a free trade zone," he said.

At the same time, Lukashenko noted that "the EAEU is a higher form of organization of our alliance, and the CIS is smaller." He admitted that there are certain contradictions in these structures, but in the light of recent events and the sanctions imposed against Belarus and Russia, some countries that are not members of the EAEU (for example, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan) have begun to take a closer look at this union, to bring their positions closer.

"There are some nuances that need to be removed (and we are trying to do this) in order to bring these republics into the EAEU," Lukashenko said.

At the same time, he noted that if this ever happens in the future and the former post-Soviet republics join the EAEU, the existence of the CIS will cease to be necessary.

"The CIS, I think, will disappear by itself, since all the republics will rise to a higher level and become part of the EAEU," the Belarusian leader noted.

Alexander Lukashenko also did not rule out that Ukraine and Georgia may join the EAEU in the future.

"Ukrainians have tried to join NATO, to join the European Union. Sensible people will come, they will not push away from our union. I think that Ukraine will be with us," the President of Belarus said.

At the same time, he recalled Georgia, mentioning that recently they announced the possibility of restoring the territorial integrity of the country.

"Look what happened. I read: they do not exclude that they can restore (quote) "territorial integrity". Today they are already selling not only wines to our market, but also other products of their own, which they could not put anywhere — not in In the European Union, neither in They didn't take them to America, there's enough of their own stuff there. Where are you going? Come to us, to Russia… Here is the path that will pass and Ukraine. Do we need this hard way? No, it's not. Our experience suggests that there are simpler ways by which Ukraine can return to us," Lukashenko summed up.