The level of mutual trust and respect between Russia and Belarus within the framework of the Union State guarantees complete non-interference in each other's internal affairs.

This was stated by the press secretary of the President of Russia Dmitry Peskov in an interview with the TV channel "Russia 1".

“We have a Union State, we are the closest allies.

And the level of mutual trust and mutual respect, on the one hand, guarantees absolute non-interference in each other's internal affairs, which has been repeatedly demonstrated by President Putin, "RIA Novosti quoted him as saying.

He also noted the opportunity of the presidents to frankly exchange views on the most pressing issues.

Peskov paid attention to several topics that Vladimir Putin and Alexander Lukashenko touched upon during the talks.

According to Peskov, the leaders could not help but discuss the events of recent weeks in Belarus.

In addition, the presidential press secretary mentioned the issue of constitutional reform, preparation for which is underway in Belarus.

“We know the initiative of President Lukashenko to carry out a constitutional reform, launch a corresponding process, this topic was also touched upon.

And this initiative was supported by President Putin, ”said Peskov.

Meanwhile, Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov explained why Russia and Belarus are considering providing a loan to Minsk totaling $ 1.5 billion. Part of this amount is planned to be allocated from the Eurasian Fund for Stabilization and Development.

According to the head of the Ministry of Finance, in this way Moscow supports the economies of both countries.

“Payments to Russian suppliers are ensured, there will be no delays in payment.

There is mutual interest here.

Of course, we hear that some say: "Why do we give loans to foreign countries in a difficult situation for Russia?"

In this case, it is our very close trade and economic partner, ”Siluanov said on the air of“ Russia 1 ”.

He also stressed that Minsk has never violated the loan repayment terms.

Attitude of the Belarusian opposition to Moscow

Meanwhile, former Belarusian presidential candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya spoke about her perception of relations between Russia and Belarus.

“This is the business of each country.

Someone supports us, someone does not.

But, of course, we are friendly countries with Russia, and I know that Russians as people support Belarusians, ”she said in an interview with RBC.

Tikhanovskaya found it difficult to answer the question about the reasons for the lack of her contacts with the official representatives of Russia.

According to her, "it is a pity that Mr. Putin supported Lukashenko."

“But this is his decision, his choice, we cannot influence him in any way.

But we are always open, our coordinating council is always open to dialogue.

I am also open to dialogue with representatives of the Russian Federation, ”she added.

Along with this, Tikhanovskaya said that she was not positioning herself as the future president of the country.

According to the ex-presidential candidate, her electoral program involved a repeat election.

“My electoral program consisted of three points, the most basic of which was repeated elections, fair, transparent and open.

And already in these elections the president will be elected, ”she said.

In her opinion, this "will be a very strong leader" with whom Russian President Vladimir Putin "would find something to agree on and talk to him as an equal."

Note that in Lithuania, Tihanovskaya met with the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Baltic Republic, Linas Linkevičius.

He declared Lithuania's support for the Belarusian opposition and called Tikhanovskaya a “national leader”.

“During a meeting with the national leader of Belarus Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, I confirmed that Lithuania supports Belarusians in their desire to freely and democratically decide the future of their country, without being persecuted and oppressed,” the Lithuanian diplomat said in a message posted on Twitter.

On the Global Day of Solidarity with #Belarus, today, I met with Belarus' national leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya.

I reaffirmed that #Lithuania stands by Belarusians in their strive to freely & democratically decide the future of their country without being persecuted & oppressed.

pic.twitter.com/ik9kT0PZMv

- Linas Linkevicius (@LinkeviciusL) September 20, 2020

The next day, September 21, Lithuania is to host a meeting of the US State Department's counterterrorism coordinator Nathan Sayles with representatives of the Belarusian "civil society".

From the press service of the State Department it follows that the parties will discuss how the United States can "support the demands of the Belarusian people to hold free and fair elections and put an end to the violent repression of the Belarusian authorities after the elections."

Let us remind you that presidential elections were held in Belarus on August 9.

According to the Central Election Commission, the current head of state, Alexander Lukashenko, won with 80.1% of the voters.

Second place was taken by Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, who received 10.1% of the votes.

After the publication of the preliminary results of the elections in Belarus, large-scale protests began.

The protesters demanded Lukashenka's resignation from the post of head of state and new elections.

Initially, the protests were accompanied by clashes with the police, but later these events began to take place peacefully, and their number began to decline.

Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the residents of the republic themselves should sort out the situation in Belarus.

In this case, external pressure should be excluded.

“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 at a meeting with the head of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko.