Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko believes the Union State with Russia could in the near future include other countries as well, such as Armenia, which he said “can’t escape it”.

“Armenia can’t escape it. You think anyone needs them? They have already seen it,” Lukashenko said in an interview with Russian journalist Vladimir Solovyov.

He added that Belarus is already in the common “security space”, and Kazakhstan has learnt a “good lesson”. Ukraine, he maintained, may end up there within 15 years “if no mistakes are made”.

“And Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, I think, will also join due to economic necessity,” Lukashenko noted.

The Union State is a supranational organization consisting of Russia and Belarus, “with the stated aim of deepening the relationship between the two states through integration in economic and defense policy.”