Mr President, how do you assess the situation in the country today? Do you think you have managed to stabilize the country?

Well, you have come to Minsk and saw how peaceful and calm it was, especially at night.

The city was amazingly clean!

Yes, it is tidy despite some isolated cases of disturbance and stuff. And this [cleanliness], in fact, our brand. Which has been saved.

How it is in Belarus -- and I have said this recently -- is perhaps similar to what you have in Moscow. You drive out of the city and there you have a totally different life. It is like this in Belarus, but not precisely, because we on Sundays, during weekends, we have a situation, and on other days it's quite normal. Naturally we try to support the image of Belarus, which is like you say, cleanliness, tidyness, calmness, and so on. But, on Sundays, people sometimes go out and make a mess. So here's your answer: we don't have any destabilization whatsoever. And you know what, if it hadn't been for the external factor, we wouldn't have even this [protest]. What do I mean by the external factor? Foreign influence. In this case, both we and the Russians know who is exerting this influence and from where. It's the Americans operating from a Warsaw center, through widely known Telegram channels. A second center is in Czech Republic. Then also they exist in Lithuania and, unfortunately, in Ukraine where they are creating footholds to influence the situation in Belarus.

You mean the American broadcast hub in Czech Republic?

Yes, correct. They are using it now to exert external influence. Because you can see how it works -- in the known Telegram channel they rallied the people to go to a certain place, and the people went there, then they posted another meeting point for the protesters to congregate, and then they asked them to go to the Independence Palace, to the Flag Square, which is close to where we are sitting now. This is how they are influencing the protesters. But this is only one aspect of it. Another thing is that they have tried to probe us, I understand it now, but I was way more concerned back then when they launched some kind of military exercise on the Belarusian border. Or, to better put it, on the Union State border. Take note of it for the future. And like I said, I had to mobilize half the Belorussian army to protect the border.

Is there still tension on the border?

Yes, across the whole border, apart from Russia, as we essentially don't have any border with Russia. So yes, the tension is still there. And we have even reinforced our border with Ukraine, which proved to be useful, considering what happened last night.

Mr President, I have a question regarding the opposition. In the Coordination Council, who are these people personally for you? And, in your opinion, what do they represent for Belarusian society today?

I will tell you honestly -- and I will be completely honest in all my responses, so don't think that I might be...

We don't think that.

Good, because it's typical for me that I never lie. We recently discussed this with Putin and he told me, "why are you so excessively open about everything?", and I said to him, "You know, you can say something today, forget exactly how you phrased and say it differently tomorrow, so people will later ask you at which time you were honest". So with regard to the people from the Coordination Council -- you wanted to know who they were -- I swear to you, I have no idea. I don't know them, and you probably don't know them either.

So you haven't heard about them?

Why, no, I have heard about them...

I mean before these events.

Erm, but did the Council actually exist before the protests?

Well, its members existed...

Of course, but I first heard about the so-called Coordination Council about 2 weeks ago or so when they published this anti-Russia, anti-Collective Security Treaty Organization, and anti-Russian people program.

The program of reforms? Which they then quickly scrapped?

Yes they did, because they felt a negative popular reaction to it. Because not only it was anti-Russian, but also anti-Belarusian. Then they issued a package of internal actions for Belarussian people, like don't pay taxes, don't pay utility bills, withdraw all cash from the banks quickly, don't buy Belarusian products, don't buy from state-owned enterprises, and so on. Those were more concrete steps, in the second program. So on this matter I am knowledgable, and I personally criticized them for this, because it's unacceptable for our country. But as to who those people are, I will reiterate, I don't know. And it's not only me, but also the Belarusian people and also you, well-informed journalists, nobody knows who they are. Well, people are saying they have this ex-minister, ex-ambassador and an ex-actor.

Ex-fluteplayer, as Soloviev [a famous Russian TV host] calls her.

Yes, the fluteplayer, but without the "ex", as she's still playing the flute a little bit, I think? Although probably not here in Belarus. But anyway, it is said those people were in the Council. Some businessmen were also members, and interestingly, I learned that some of those businessmen I personally babysitted. I got word of it from my acquaintaces who were asking me, "How come? You were helping them all the time and now they are in the opposition Council?" And I couldn't believe it too. So we reached out to one of those businessmen to clarify things. And this guy, in the construction business, was shocked too because he was not aware of being included in the Council. So there you have it, so I'm quite reluctant to talk about specific people in the Council. One ran off from Belarus, another one tried to, but we apprehended her at the border. This sort of people.

Can you please elaborate on this? What happened to Maria Kolesnikova? Where is she? Was she detained?

Well, I can't really give you many details, because I was briefed only that she and two of her relatives or friends or whoever tried to escape to Ukraine today. They had proper documents to do that, which they showed to the border control officer who let them out.