Does Lukashenka repeat nuclear weapon can get back to Belarus?

Today in an interview to the Japanese information agency “Kyodo Tsushin” Aliaksandar Lukashenka again developed the idea of location of nuclear weapons on the territory of Belarus. Lukashenka was talking about nuclear war-head rockets within the USA plans on creating a rocket shield in Eastern Europe.

Lukashenka’s press-service said these issues had been discussed at the meeting of the head of state with Japanese journalists, but no concrete quotations have been given so far.

The Belarusian president also dwelled on the future of Belarusian-Japanese relations, including cooperation in the scope of nuclear energy.

“We have already addressed the Japanese part with such proposals. Japan has extra modern technologies in this sphere, and we would like to cooperate in case Japan accepts our proposal. And if you want to cooperate with us in the construction of the nuclear power station, we will be glad to listen to your variants,” the official sources cite Lukashenka.

According to Lukashenka, the construction of the nuclear power station in Belarus will not start earlier than 2010.

“If we start the construction in 2010, then I believe we’ll have finished one reactor by 2014 or 2015,” Lukashenka said in the interview.

For yearend 2006 the amount of trade between Belarus and Japan made $ 147 mln (2,3 times more than in 2005). The turnover of January-August 2007 has exceeded $ 160 mln.

Belarus exports mostly dried milk, integrated circuits, fiberglass, optical and measurement devices, lasers, lenses. Japan supplies Belarus with cars, communication equipment, photocopying machines, autoloaders, road machinery, and information processing equipment.

“We intend to develop an active cooperation with Japan in the near future, and I believe Japan will do the same, as it is profitable for that country to work with us and to use Belarus as a platform in the center of Europe for economic expansion to the West and other countries,” Lukashenka said.

He also emphasized the role of Japan in the issues of elimination of the consequences of the Charnobyl tragedy.