Minsk, March 23 (IANS): Belarus's President Aleksandr Lukashenko Sunday said the country accepts Crimea to be a de-facto part of Russia.
"Crimea isn't an independent state. It's part of the Russian territory. One can recognise or not recognise that, it will change nothing," Xinhua quoted Lukashenko as telling reporters here.
The eastern European country's president also stated that his country will build a relationship with the new Ukrainian government after it was elected.
He added that Belarus can not scrap its partnership with Ukraine, as their combined business with the country was seven billion US dollars last year.