Meeting with President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko

President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Mr Lukashenko, even though we are, like you said, 7,000 kilometres away from our respective countries, no matter where we meet, we always find something to talk about and we always need to meet and talk, which is quite interesting.

Just now, I was discussing with some of our colleagues…

President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko Lukashenko AlexanderPresident of Belarus : We were watching.

Vladimir Putin: And I told one of our colleagues (I will say more about that later) that, all things considered, our trade and economic relations are doing quite well, but our trade with Belarus exceeds $50 billion. Russia does not have that many trade partners with trade volumes like that.

Alexander Lukashenko: I think we are in the fourth place.

Vladimir Putin: Yes, maybe.

What do I mean by this? I mean that our meetings are not in vain. This is, after all, the result of our joint work. This is excellent. I am very glad to see you.

We just worked together, literally yesterday, within the framework of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation. Tomorrow we will attend a parade to celebrate victory, which marked the end of World War II. This is also our common cause, in this particular case, we did it in conjunction with our Chinese friends.

This is an opportunity for us to discuss bilateral relations. I am very glad to have it.

Alexander Lukashenko: Mr Putin, thank you for inviting me to your home. Even though in China, it is still your home. It took us a while to get here, though. It turns out we live close to one another, just a hundred metres away.

I am glad to meet with you and to discuss a number of issues pertaining to the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, among others. I always acknowledge this and emphasise that thanks to you and the People's Republic of China, we are the only European country in this family.

Vladimir Putin: Slovakia?

Alexander Lukashenko: They are not members yet [of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation].

Vladimir Putin: Well, they came for the event.

Alexander Lukashenko: No, I am talking about European SCO members. That is why this is critically important for us. We had the opportunity to speak with all the presidents, even Prime Minister [of India] Narendra Modi. We have not seen each other in a while, so we had an exchange and talked. This is also very important.

You understand that no country can replace Russia for us, so it is crucial that we have this meeting today. I am aware that you supported China's initiative on global governance.

Vladimir Putin: It is a good initiative.

Alexander Lukashenko: It is, indeed. The most important thing is equality, as always, and justice. I just met with the leadership, representatives of the Chinese leadership, as well. The only thing I mentioned at the end [of the meeting] is that most importantly China should not off-ramp and abandon this initiative, but stick to it. You know, sometimes they grow big, and then get afflicted with globalism. China said, "No way, this is our fourth initiative, and we will follow it religiously."

As for the parade, they were in Moscow, where we celebrated our Victory together. Of course, no matter how difficult it could be, we had to be here. And we are thankful for being invited to this parade. More than three dozen heads of state will attend. True, it will be hot: almost 40 degrees. Even you will feel the heat. I am already wondering how we will stand in this sun. Well, they say everything will be all right there.

As for bilateral relations, it is surprising that we have, as I reviewed this yesterday, almost no issues, even fewer than Russia has with China. Although today we identified three problems with China, which I will tell you about later. We are ready to move forward in this direction.

I would like to congratulate you on having an excellent meeting with Donald Trump in Alaska. We applauded you - both sides, because there is no need to say that one has won and the other lost - no, you worked great together.

I looked at the Ukraine issue: they have nothing to counter. They only shout in the West: "Bad, bad." Well, things are always bad with them. I think they will also become wiser and join the initiatives that you outlined with the US President.

We are working together on all fronts, as you know, and we will carry on. When the US President called, we discussed this issue, and I said: we are one country. In fact, Russia is fighting alone, but we support it as best we can and will continue to do so, and I am saying this publicly. This is a disaster. Time will tell who is right and who is guilty. Many will also thank us, especially in Europe, that once again, in this difficult time, we are working to stop Nazism, which could otherwise deteriorate into fascism.

Therefore, Mr Putin, we will fulfill our role and mission together up to the end.

Vladimir Putin: You said that no one can replace Russia for Belarus. I want to say in response that no one can replace Belarus for Russia either. We have very close interstate relations, and good personal relations with you as well, though that may not be the most important thing. What truly matters is that the results of our joint work are clear, as I have already said. From the standpoint of economic growth, and even structural improvement of the economy, we are accomplishing a lot, and doing it quite effectively. There are many promising areas for cooperation, primarily industrial cooperation. We will probably discuss this in more detail.

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