BELARUS INTERESTED IN FRIENDLY RELATIONS WITH U.S.








MINSK, March 2. /RIA Novosti's correspondent Olesya Luchaninova/. Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko said that Belarus is interested in having friendly and stable relations with the United States. Appearing before the chiefs of Belarussian diplomatic missions accredited abroad, he noted that these relations should not be built to the detriment of the basic principles of socio-political development in Belarus and which "the Belarussian people have opted for". 


	"We should be treated as a equitable partner on the mutual basis with account for our national interests", said Alexander Lukashenko. He expressed the hope that pragmatism and realism of the new administration of the United States will help to bring closer the positions of our states on a range of political and economic questions. 


	Alexander Lukashenko cited two main causes for the tense relations with the West. The first "lies on the plane of construing the Belarus-Russian union", said Lukashenko. He noted that his stated desire to link Ukraine to Belarus and Russia alerts Western states ever more. 


	The second reason lies in the field of domestic policy. "Time ago we did not allow to privatise our state", said the Belarussian president. Earlier some people wanted to buy Belarussian enterprises for a song but today these enterprises are working and cost very much, he said.