MOSCOW, 18 February (BelTA) - Belarus and Russia have learned to jointly resist the sanctions pressure. But those who have put themselves on the front line of this war may suffer the greatest, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko told the media after the talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on 18 February, BelTA has learned.
Speaking about the topics that were on the agenda of the meeting with his Russian counterpart, the Belarusian head of state noted that it was certainly about the integration in the Union State. He recalled that in November 2021 a decree of the Supreme State Council of the Union State was signed, which approved the main guidelines for the Union State Treaty for 2021-2023 and 28 Union State programs. "We have already implemented these programs by about 30%," Aleksandr Lukashenko said. According to him, now special attention of the two states is focused on the programs in such areas as taxation, customs, and the formation of the common gas market.
Economy was also in focus of the negotiations. "It's gratifying that we did well last year. Despite the pandemic, we increased our trade to almost $40 billion,” the president emphasized. "It is important that both the Belarusian and Russian economies actively expanded last year, both in terms of GDP, industrial production, and many other areas of the real sector."
"Of course, we talked more about problems rather than successes. There are fewer of them, but they are still there.We discussed measures to support the economy and strengthen financial stability, increase business activity and develop cooperation,” the Belarusian leader said.
According to the president, they also touched upon the increasing sanctions pressure on both countries. “We have already learned how to deal with these sanctions, and have become stronger. The mutual trade testifies to the fact. However, this issue takes up a lot of attention, and we have talked a lot about this today. This economic banditry, an attempt to wage an economic war against us, which is actually raging, costs us a lot,” the Belarusian leader said.
“Those who put themselves on the frontline in the sanctions war will suffer just as much, if not more,” the head of state stressed. In this regard, he expressed his gratitude for the support of the Russian president: “I am grateful to you, Vladimir Vladimirovich, for the instructions you gave to the government in my presence.”
Aleksandr Lukashenko expressed confidence that both countries would survive and strengthen their positions: “It is already clear that we, Belarusians and Russians, will survive and come out victorious of this hybrid war. We can see how industrial cooperation has strengthened, how our bilateral trade is expanding and how our foreign trade is diversifying. It is a big world. They cannot put locks on all gates, close all the transport routes.
