Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said on Thursday the Western sanctions open new windows of opportunity in front of Belarus and Russia.

“It is true that new opportunities are opening in front of our countries. The Western companies have vacated large market niches in Belarus and Russia, which we are now to fill. The question is what prevented us from doing this before – lobbyists, competition or corruption?” the BelTA news agency quotes Lukashenko as saying at a meeting of the Security Council.

He voiced certainty that the West had been determined to impose sanctions on Belarus in any case.

“The speed and depth of the sanctions indicate that they had been planned thoroughly and for a long time. It is pretty clear that they were to be introduced regardless of Russian-Ukrainian relations. These sanctions would be introduced in any case,” he said.

Source: Agencies