Belarus and Russia have reached full mutual understanding on all key issues

"We have achieved a great deal over these two decades, and I believe we have good years ahead of us. I am confident that the Russian Federation will continue to develop and strengthen the vector of the Eurasian space. We are ready for this," added Alexander Lukashenko. In turn, Vladimir Putin said: "This is my first trip outside the Russian Federation after taking office as President. This is natural, given that Belarus is not just a close partner, but a special one." The President of Russia noted the success of the two countries in developing trade and economic cooperation. In particular, he stated that according to the results of 2011, the growth in mutual trade turnover was about 40%, reaching almost $40 billion. Positive dynamics continue this year. "This is clear evidence of the right choice in the direction of integration," emphasized the head of the Russian state. Vladimir Putin expressed his gratitude to Alexander Lukashenko for his active support of integration processes in the post-Soviet space, expressing his readiness to discuss the full range of pressing issues on the agenda of the two states. During the negotiations, the presidents reached a full mutual understanding on problematic issues in the relations between Belarus and Russia, Alexander Lukashenko stated before the start of the expanded negotiations with the participation of delegation members. "Just now, one-on-one, we discussed a number of problems. We have found a full mutual understanding on these issues. We have no closed topics," emphasized the President of Belarus. "We are united as never before not only in politics and economics but also in military-technical cooperation, and we will build our relations for the benefit of our peoples, without threatening, hindering, or creating problems for anyone." Alexander Lukashenko assured his Russian counterpart that Belarus is Russia's closest and most loyal ally: "It has been, it is, and it always will be. We will consistently advocate for the development of the closest friendly relations with our main strategic partner – the Russian Federation. This fully corresponds to the will of the peoples of our states." "We have come a long way in building bilateral relations and have achieved exceptional results in this regard. Today, we can state that there is no more advanced integration in the post-Soviet space than the Union State. Millions of people have received real benefits from this," emphasized the President of Belarus.According to him, the groundwork laid within the framework of the Union State became the foundation for the formation of the Customs Union and the Single Economic Space. Noting the significant growth in mutual trade, Alexander Lukashenko remarked that in modern conditions, it is necessary not only to ensure further increases in trade volumes but also to create joint ventures and holdings. "We need to stop competing with each other, at least within the Customs Union, and jointly enter the markets of third countries. We are ready for this," he said. Separately, the head of the Belarusian state thanked the Russian side for its support in the issue of constructing a nuclear power plant in Belarus. "I think we need to step up our efforts to build the most modern, the best, the most beautiful plant in the world. Here, in the center of Europe," noted Alexander Lukashenko. The President of Belarus is confident that by joining forces, Belarus and Russia will be able not only to build a nuclear power plant but also to solve many other issues. By tradition, the presidents agreed to take personal control of all the most serious and breakthrough areas in bilateral cooperation. Vladimir Putin said that at a meeting in a narrow format, the parties discussed, in particular, the issue of expanding cargo transshipment through the Baltic ports of Russia. He emphasized that much has been done by both countries in economic cooperation, and this has a positive impact not only on the Belarusian but also on the Russian economy. According to the head of the Russian state, the total volume of support that Belarus has received through mutually beneficial cooperation with Russia over the past few years amounted to approximately $5 billion. "We have a very high level of cooperation, and this positively affects the development of the Russian economy," stated the President of Russia. "I must say that we see what difficult, but absolutely correct decisions are being made by the leadership of Belarus and the economic bloc of the government to normalize the situation in the economy," noted Vladimir Putin. "Of course, we proceed from the fact that the results that are currently observed in the Belarusian economy will be more significant in the near future." At the same time, the head of the Russian state noted that "these are difficult, partly painful decisions, but they must be gone through." "We see what is happening in some European countries that did not take timely steps, and now they are going through hard times. Of course, we wish them success in restoring their economies," he added.Vladimir Putin also noted that the political dialogue between Belarus and Russia is developing at the highest level, as evidenced by active contacts in this sphere. Alexander Lukashenko and Vladimir Putin also demonstrated unity of views in their statements for the media following the talks, during which, according to the President of Belarus, specific issues in bilateral relations were discussed, including in the economy, politics, and defence. "We have gathered to make the lives of our people better, without creating problems for anyone. We want to live only at our own expense, both Russia and Belarus, without creating problems for other states. And in this context, we discussed all issues - from tariffs to projects for the creation of joint Belarusian-Russian enterprises and holdings within the territory of the Single Economic Space," said the head of the Belarusian state. "The trusting dialogue that has been established and is maintained by our sides allows us to achieve significant results on the entire agenda of our cooperation," noted the President of Belarus. One of the main topics at the talks was the development of integration in the SES with the prospect of forming a Eurasian Economic Union on its basis. "Belarus and Russia have no disagreements here. It seems to me that the creation of the Eurasian Union is a matter of time, which will be resolved in the near future," believes Alexander Lukashenko. Belarus also advocates for the idea of "integration of integrations," which involves creating a common economic space from Lisbon to Vladivostok on the platform of the European Union and the SES. "I think, given the processes that have been happening recently, this goal that we have set for ourselves is not so far away," noted the head of the Belarusian state. Alexander Lukashenko emphasized the special importance and significance of Vladimir Putin's visit to Belarus. "This visit is more important than many economic agreements of Belarus with Russia, as well as with other states. This is a signal that we have a great future. As for Belarus, we will go through this path with dignity," said Alexander Lukashenko. According to the President of Russia, the meeting was business-like, concrete, and substantive: "It was extremely frank, we spoke as colleagues, as friends, comrades, on all issues, problems that concern both Belarus and Russia in the context of our integration efforts and on a bilateral level.""The very fact of my first foreign visit to fraternal Belarus undoubtedly reflects the special nature of our relations. Our meeting with Alexander Grigoryevich once again proved the mutual readiness to develop and fill our relations with new content," emphasized Vladimir Putin. During the negotiations, the prospects for economic ties were discussed in detail. Thus, a decision was made to allocate Belarus the next, third tranche of the loan from the Anti-Crisis Fund of EurAsEC, and negotiations will begin on the allocation of the fourth tranche. "We noted with satisfaction that this is timely, expedient, and possible to do, given the positive dynamics that the Belarusian economy is gaining. And the volumes of trade turnover also speak about this," noted the President of Russia. A significant return is expected from the implementation of joint projects in the fields of energy, mechanical engineering, and advanced technologies. In this context, special importance is attached to the project for the construction of the Belarusian NPP, which has every chance of becoming the largest and most modern project in the history of bilateral relations. Alexander Lukashenko and Vladimir Putin also considered promising areas of investment cooperation and discussed issues of creating the "RosBelAvto" holding based on the assets of KAMAZ and MAZ. "I am confident that if we agree, this will be a very good example for other sectors of the real economy," noted Vladimir Putin. Considerable attention was paid to cooperation in regional associations within the CIS space in light of the jubilee sessions of the CSTO Collective Security Council and the Commonwealth informal summit held in Moscow two weeks ago. "I am convinced that Russian-Belarusian relations have a great future," emphasized the President of Russia. "As integration processes deepen, the unity of our countries will only strengthen, opening up opportunities for solving long-term and current tasks." The outcome of the negotiations was also the adoption of a joint statement by the Presidents of Belarus and Russia, in which they noted the strategic nature of the relations between the two countries and the mutual desire to strengthen long-term mutually beneficial cooperation in various spheres. Vladimir Putin expressed his gratitude to Alexander Lukashenko and the Belarusian people for the warm welcome and hospitality and invited the President of Belarus to visit the Russian Federation on an official visit at his convenience.

On the evening of May 31, an official dinner was held on behalf of Alexander Lukashenko in honor of Russian President Vladimir Putin. During the dinner, the heads of state continued their discussion of important issues on the bilateral and international agenda.

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