Lukashenko says on Russian television: "May have been sitting for a while"

Mr Lukashenko also says he is the only one who can protect the country right now, and that he has no intention of resigning.

However, he does not rule out earlier presidential elections, but adds that such can only take place after changes in the constitution.

"Will not drop everything"

"We are ready to implement constitutional reforms, and I do not rule out an early presidential election afterwards," the president was quoted as saying by radio channel Govorit Moscow, one of several Russian state media invited to Lukashenko for an interview on Tuesday.

- I will not resign in this way.

I have been building Belarus for a quarter of a century.

I will not let go of everything just like that.

If I resign, my followers will be massacred!

Votes from the protest movement demand that a new election be held before the constitution is changed.

Lukashenko gives the interview against the background of the latest developments in which Maria Kolesnikova, a leading opposition leader, according to the authorities was arrested when she tried to flee to neighboring Ukraine illegally.

"Stalinist methods"

According to the opposition, Kolesnikova is in fact overpowered by masked men and driven to the border crossing against his will and pushed out of the car.

An attempt by the regime to quell the protests by staging that she had given up.

Belarussian Ingmar Oldberg, an associate at the Institute of Foreign Policy (UI), sees the handling of Kolesnikova and other opposition leaders as part of a blackout.

- They say themselves that they want to stay.

It's probably a bit of a way to smear them in front of the followers, to make them appear hesitant and cowardly.

Now the opposition in the dictatorship of Belarus is calling for new popular and peaceful protests.

These have been going on since the presidential election on August 9, when Lukashenko declared himself the winner with 80 percent voter support.

The result is seen both in Belarus and abroad as a result of electoral fraud.

Lukashenko seeks support in Russia

In the interview, Lukashenko also opens up for in-depth cooperation with Russia.

- We are ready to develop integration with Russia, but first and foremost, all institutions and projects within the framework of the Union State (a supranational organization with Russia and Belarus as members) must begin to function as they should, he says according to Govorit Moscow.