As Belarus slowly turns its back on Russia and looks towards the west, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenka has stated that he wants to help build the floating liquid natural gas (LNG) terminal off the coast of Klaipeda.

His country wants to diversify its energy sources away from dependence on Russia — a very similar situation that Lithuania is in. Last week Belarus felt the cold shoulder from the Kremlin as it called in a $192 million dollar gas bill. When they didn’t pay, Russia began cutting off gas supplies to the country.

In a meeting in Minsk on Monday, Lukashenka told Lithuanian Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius that his country wants to increase energy independence.

“Belarus is interested in the liquefied gas terminal in Klaipėda, considering the possibility to participate in its development. He [Lukashenka] talked about a possible gas pipeline from Klaipėda,” Kubilius said via his spokesman in Minsk.

Kubilius sympathised with Lukashenka’s position, but informed him that cooperation would mean that Belarus would have to raise their standards of humans rights and democratic practices.

“We all know what it means to be dependent solely on any single supplier’s resources, it is sometimes problematic. To have an alternative, governed by economic logic is good,” Kubilius said. “This approach [shows] we have good opportunities to develop clear and effective projects. In this way we can strengthen our independence and sovereignty.”

Lukashenka said via his press service after the meeting that Lithuania and Belarus should work closely together.

“Belarus and Lithuania cannot have disagreements in trade and economic co-operation. We can accomplish a lot, but it is important that we do not lose time. We have similar problems today, but we also have similar approaches to solving them,” he said.

Lithuania is building a floating LNG terminal so it can import gas by ship, freeing it from dependence on Russian gas. Currently Lithuania relies on Russia for almost all of its gas supplies. The country uses gas for heating, electricity production, industry and domestic use.

The country is also in the process of building a pipeline to Poland to utilize their gas reserves.