Lukashenko: Both Belarus and Russia are ready to welcome any friendly steps

Belarus and Russia are ready to welcome any friendly steps, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko said at a concert dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the complete lifting of the siege of Leningrad in St. Petersburg, BelTA has learned. "We are peaceful people. We don't want war. But we are once again faced with the challenge threatening the survival of our civilization, our traditional values and national cultures. We do not need the things that are not ours, especially those things that they tried, more than once, to impose on our ancestors by fire and sword. But still. Both after the victory and today we call for peaceful dialogue, based on the respect for our historical memory and the truth about the war. We, both in Russia and Belarus, are ready to welcome any friendly steps towards us,” the head of state stressed. In his words, 80 years ago the complete lifting of the siege of Leningrad brought the Great Victory closer. “Ahead of us are many anniversaries of great battles, which eventually stopped the most brutal war in the history of mankind,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.