"We consider Belarus as the closest ally": how were the negotiations between Putin and Lukashenko in Sochi

Talks between Presidents Vladimir Putin and Alexander Lukashenko have come to an end in Sochi.

As the press secretary of the head of the Russian state Dmitry Peskov said, the leaders talked face to face.

The subject of their conversation was bilateral relations and commercial cooperation.

“Talks between Presidents Putin and Lukashenka have come to an end in Sochi.

They actually sat together and talked for nearly four hours.

The communication was face to face, ”RIA Novosti quotes a Kremlin spokesman.

He also stressed that Lukashenka is the legitimate head of the Belarusian state.

“Alexander Grigorievich is the legitimate president of Belarus,” Peskov said, answering a question from journalists whether the Kremlin does not think that against the background of Lukashenka’s protests there is a lack of legitimacy.

Along with this, Peskov said that the leaders agreed to withdraw the reserve of security officials formed by the Russian side for possible assistance to Minsk.

“An important result of the talks between the two presidents in Sochi was the agreement that Russia removes the reserve of law enforcement agencies and the National Guard, which was concentrated near the Russian-Belarusian border, and takes people to places of permanent deployment,” said Peskov.

COVID-19 vaccine and credit

During today's meeting, Putin said that Belarus will be the first country to receive the Russian vaccine against the coronavirus infection COVID-19.

“As agreed by our prime ministers, and then the ministers of health, Belarus will be the first country to receive our antiviral vaccine against COVID-19, and has already begun to participate in the last stage of its trial,” Putin said.

• Putin - Lukashenko: "Belarus will be the first country to receive our antiviral vaccine against COVID-19"

In addition, Russia will provide Belarus with a state loan of $ 1.5 billion in accordance with the previously reached agreements, the Russian leader said.

“We agreed that Russia will provide Belarus with a state loan of $ 1.5 billion at this difficult moment, and we will fulfill it,” Putin said at the beginning of the meeting with Lukashenko.

According to him, the finance ministers of the two states "are working on this at a professional level."

Let us remind you that earlier the head of the RF Ministry of Finance Anton Siluanov said that the Russian side, together with its Belarusian colleagues, is starting a technical study of the conditions for refinancing the debt of Belarus to Russia.

Lukashenko himself said at the end of August that we are talking about refinancing a debt of $ 1 billion.

According to the Belarusian president, after Minsk keeps these funds, it "will be a good reinforcement" for the national currency of the republic.

Speaking about the situation in Belarus, the Russian president said that the inhabitants of the republic should themselves, "without any prompts" and pressure from outside, should sort out these events.

Negotiations between Putin and Lukashenko are taking place against the backdrop of protests in Belarus.

Following the results of the presidential elections held in August, Alexander Lukashenko, who has headed the country since 1994, won the victory.

Citizens who disagreed with these figures began to take to the streets demanding to hold repeated elections.

“You know our position well: we are for the Belarusians themselves, without any prompts and pressure from outside, in a calm mode and in dialogue with each other, to understand this situation and come to a common decision on how to build their work further,” said Putin.

Putin also noted that the Russian side is aware of Lukashenka's proposal to start work on the Constitution.

“I think this is logical, timely, and expedient,” he added.

Earlier Lukashenka said that a draft of a new Constitution is being developed, which is supposed to be submitted to a referendum in the future.

He also indicated that if the document is adopted in the republic, new presidential and parliamentary elections could take place.

During the conversation, the Russian leader also stressed that Moscow remains committed to all agreements with Minsk, including in the part of the Treaty on the Union State and the CSTO.

“We regard Belarus as our closest ally and, of course, as I have already told you many times in telephone conversations, we will fulfill all our obligations,” Putin said.

He also said that obligations should be fulfilled regardless of whether he is in power in the state.

Along with this, the head of the Russian state noted that the two countries should continue cooperation in the defense sphere.

Putin drew attention to the fact that on the day of the meeting of the two leaders, the Russian-Belarusian military exercises "Slavic Brotherhood - 2020" started.

Putin also recalled that Russia remains the largest investor in the Belarusian economy.

“In general, over 50% of Belarus's foreign trade turnover falls on the Russian Federation.

Almost 2.5 thousand enterprises with Russian capital operate in Belarus.

We have very stable and deep cooperation in a number of areas and in a number of industries, ”the Russian president said.

Lukashenko responded by saying that recent events in Belarus indicated the need to stay closer to Russia, especially in the economy.

As the head of state noted, the economy "underlies everything."

“Believe me, we have always adhered to this line (cooperation with Russia. -

).

But these events showed us that we need to stay closer with our older brother and cooperate on all issues, including in the economy, ”Lukashenka said.