Lukashenko on alleged Russian plans to take over Belarus by 2030: ´There might have been such a document'

Belarusian dictator Alexander has reacted to a document, featured in a joint investigation by the Kyiv Independent and a group of U.S. and European media outlets, detailed Russia's future steps to take complete control of Belarusian political, economic, and military spheres by 2030.

Speaking to local journalists at a sporting event on Feb. 25, Lukashenko said the document allegedly detailing Russia's plans to overpower Belarus and dismantle its independence “might have been” written three years ago.

According to one of the sources cited in the investigation, an unnamed Western intelligence officer, the document was created in 2021 by the Kremlin's Directorate for Cross-Border Cooperation.

According to the plan outlined in the document, by 2030, Belarus should have a single currency and tax system with Russia, and its military and media space will have come under Russian control.

Lukashenko told state-controlled news agency Belta that Belarus and Russia discussed the formation of integration roadmaps three years ago.

“There were different points of view. Some said this way, and some said that way. Maybe some (in Putin’s administration) officials, a group of people, suggested which way they will go with Belarus,” Lukashenko said on Feb. 25, adding that he sees Belarus as “an independent and sovereign state.”

Lukashenko claimed that the cross-border investigative report aims to divide Belarus and Russia.