Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko had productive talks late into the night on Wednesday, April 5th. The meeting between Putin and Lukashenko began on Wednesday and lasted until midnight local time on Thursday, Peskov told reporters in Moscow on April 6th.
“Ahead of (a Supreme State Council meeting), the two leaders held a very long and substantive discussion. It ended well past midnight”, Peskov was quoted by the news agency TASS. On Wednesday, talks between Putin and Lukashenko began in the Kremlin, the Russian presidential office. The Kremlin spokesperson said that Putin and Lukashenko mostly discussed bilateral and international relations.
Peskov told the press that Putin told Lukashenko that bilateral relations between the two countries have improved a lot. He said that Russia and Belarus have achieved great success together in many fields. Putin cited a 12% increase in bilateral trade between the two countries last year as evidence of improving bilateral economic relations.
“Of course, it is especially gratifying to note the results of our work in the economic sphere. According to our statistics, our trade has increased over the year, perhaps not to the high figures that we have recorded with some other countries, but it has increased by 12%. In absolute terms this is impressive. According to our analysis, it is US$45bn, and according to yours – almost US$50bn”, Putin said.
Lukashenko informed Putin that about 80% of the 28 Union projects have been completed. He said Moscow and Minsk have been working hard to implement this programme for the past two years.
“There are heights that we couldn’t reach for a long time and still can’t reach. At your suggestion – right here in this very place – you said: if we cannot do something, let us not waste time and do what we can. And we identified 28 Union programmes – and almost 80% of them have been implemented mainly by our governments”, Lukashenko told Putin.
Lukashenko has been a vocal critic of sanctions imposed on Moscow by the West over Russia’s special military operations in Ukraine. Belarus has improved bilateral relations with Russia over the past few years and has allowed Moscow to deploy its military in its territory before starting the campaign against neo-Nazi forces in Ukraine.
Recently, in an interview given to a Chinese media outlet, Lukashenko expressed hope that the conflict between Russia and Ukraine will be resolved peacefully.
Kremlin sources said Putin and Lukashenko had an informal conversation over lunch after their late-night meeting. Later, both leaders opened the Union State’s Supreme Council Meeting.
