President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko confessed his love for Ukraine and its people in an interview with Ukrainian journalist Diana Panchenko, BELTA reports.
The head of state reminded that he has Ukrainian roots, among other things. "This is a personal thing. I love and loved Ukraine very much. I remember, my eldest son was still young, I got into a car and drove along the highway Leningrad - Odessa. I traveled to Odessa. I stopped in the fields and looked at this beauty. That was in Soviet times. I sincerely love this country and these people," the President said.
He noted that he treats well even the so-called Westerners, who are considered to be more nationalistic: "When I worked as a director of an agricultural enterprise, they came to me every year to earn money. They needed grain. Because you can't grow much in the Carpathians. They are such hard workers! I always set them as an example. I always gave them twice as much grain on their transport way back to the Western Ukraine, than they earned".
"I have the deepest respect for these people, and to the Western ones as well, so that you knew," Alexander Lukashenko said. I have always treated Ukraine with love. And I still do. No matter how they try to present me as some bastard. Time will pass, people will figure it all out."
