Lukashenko said he has no friends, but has 'good acquaintances'

What Lukashenko said

President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko said that he, 'probably, has no friends,' but there are 'good people with whom I can socialize and talk.' His words were reported by the BelTA agency. According to him, he must always remember that he is president, and this role obliges him to 'strive to be the same for everyone' — although, he added, he is never the same, because he loves 'hard workers.'

Explanation: the corruption argument

Lukashenko explained his position by saying that over time friends 'begin to demand a lot' and ask him to 'do something at the expense of others, and this leads to corruption.' For him, he said, this is unacceptable. Thus, he linked the statement about having 'good acquaintances' instead of friends not to personal circumstances, but to the constraints of the presidential role.

Contradiction with earlier statements

The November statement diverges from Lukashenko's earlier remarks. In April, in an interview with RT journalist Rick Sanchez, he stated that his relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin was 'more than friendship', and that he communicates with his Russian counterpart 'like a brother.' In another interview, he said that he is friends with Chinese President Xi Jinping and that they have developed a practice of annual informal meetings. In addition, the US previously stated that Donald Trump and Lukashenko 'could become friends'. The publications do not explain how these earlier formulations relate to the new statement.