Lukashenko vows retaliation if sanctions imposed

(MINSK) - President Alexander Lukashenko on Thursday said Belarus vowed the toughest retaliation if the EU imposes sanctions on Belarus and accused Germany and Poland of seeking to oust him through election protests.

In some of his broadest and most strident remarks on the growing diplomatic standoff between Belarus and the European Union, he pledged to come out fighting if the West moved to isolate his regime.

Lukashenko's comments came as his prime minister visited Moscow for talks aimed at shoring up Russia's support for its traditional ally in time of growing crisis.

The former Soviet republic's long-time leader said the West's threat to impose travel restrictions against his government would be seen as an attempt to bring Belarus to its knees.

"No one will ever be allowed to speak to Belarus from a position of strength, using the language of ultimatums. ... We do not intend to bow before anyone," Lukashenko told a government meeting.

"If someone tries to impose economic or any other kind of sanctions we must react swiftly and prepare retaliatory measures, right up to the very toughest."

The European Union said on Wednesday it would reinstate a travel ban on Lukashenko if he fails to release the opponents that he jailed on the night of his controversial December 19 re-election.

Washington is also exploring a range of possible sanctions.

But the threat of his government losing international recognition put the at-times unpredictable Belarus leader in a combative mood that saw him pin the blame for all his republic's troubles on Poland and Germany.

The two nations sent envoys to Minsk on the eve of the elections promising Lukashenko some $3.5 billion dollars in assistance should he hold an internationally recognisable vote.

Poland and Germany have also led the global outrage over the violence that followed a poll that saw Lukashenko's nearest rival officially receive less than three percent of the vote.

Lukashenko told his government that the arrests have resulted in confessions that confirmed that the two European powers had sought to topple him by instigating protests on election day.

"You must have seen how furiously the Germans and the Poles are attacking Belarus... All the plans and most of the money came from Germany and Poland or went through them.

"It was there that plans for overturning the constitutional order were drawn up."

And comments that seemed directed at Washington, Lukashenko said that "even the strongest of powers" do not have the right to meddle in other nations' internal affairs.

"This principle has been recognised by the entire international community."

Unlike the United States and Europe, Russia has sought to distance itself from what it said was its neighbour's "internal affair" as it seeks to pursue joint economic projects with Minsk.

Vladimir Putin, the country's de facto leader and prime minister, said during talks with his Belarussian counterpart that two neighbours had "strong potential and good development prospects."

Belarus Prime Minister Mikhail Myasnikovich called Russia "our government's strategic partner".