At a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Sochi, there was no talk of "surrendering" sovereignty, issues of rapprochement between the countries were resolved. This was stated by Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko on Tuesday, June 1.
"So that there are no insinuations such as that we "surrender" our sovereignty and independence. There was not even a speech on the subject. We didn't talk about it at all. We resolved specific issues that will help bring us closer to the Russian Federation. Let me remind you that we need only one thing: equal conditions for business entities and individuals, " the SB.Belarus Segodnya newspaper quotes him as saying.
In addition, Lukashenko said that Russia will supply Belarus with modern weapons, but at the same time stressed that there were no discussions about the transfer of the Russian Armed Forces on a permanent basis and the creation of some bases.
"We don't need that. Because according to our concept of the military security of the Union State, there is no need for this yet, " the President of the Republic added.
Earlier in the day, the press secretary of the Russian leader Dmitry Peskov said that the interaction of the presidents of the Russian Federation and Belarus is primarily aimed at developing cooperation between the countries in various fields.
Lukashenko arrived in Sochi on May 28. On the first day of his visit, he held lengthy official talks with the Russian leader. They lasted more than five hours.
Putin and Lukashenko also instructed the transport ministries of the two countries to organize "all aspects" of air traffic, taking into account the upcoming holiday period and the large number of Belarusian citizens who want to come to the Black Sea coast of Russia.
In addition, Lukashenko told Putin in detail about the situation with the emergency landing of the Ryanair plane at the Minsk airport, which occurred on May 23. They also discussed the further development of trade and economic cooperation between the two countries and the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.
On May 29, Putin and Lukashenko took a boat trip in the Black Sea, which was the end of their two-day talks. On the same day, the leaders agreed on the second tranche of the state debt for Belarus. According to Peskov, the transfer of the tranche is expected by the end of June.
