Meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov

Relations between Belarus and Russia do not need to be reset, they need to be intensified, Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko said as he met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

“As for the Belarus-Russia relations, perhaps, we do not need to talk about some kind of reset, but about the strengthening, intensification of our relations. This is absolutely obvious. This is not just a thesis, but real life. I want you to understand and know that we are ready for this,” the Belarusian leader said.

Aleksandr Lukashenko noted that there is a lot of talk about what turn the bilateral relations will take. The President emphasized Belarus' determination to maintain close cooperation with Russia. “I will tell you straight from the shoulder, in a friendly way that both Russia and Belarus live (by the way, not by the will of Belarus) in their own house or apartment,” the President said referring to the collapse of the Soviet Union, which did not happen at the will of Belarus. “And we would like to have not just good-neighborly relations, we would like to have very close, fraternal relations with the Russian Federation,” the President assured.

“I said nothing new. I have always talked about this. However, listening to me, they did not always want to emphasize and repeat it, especially in Russia. Apparently, someone was not interested in it, but time has shown that we cannot escape very close and friendly relations. I am sure that this is what the Russian leadership wants and prefers today,” the head of state added.

"I would like to congratulate you on the outcome in the Caucasus. You have done a great job. It is clear that there will be criticism and so on. But the fact that, largely thanks to Russia, this bloodshed has stopped, that people are not longer dying there and that the process, though still at its nascent stage, towards the normalization of relations in the Caucasus has begun is a very positive and good sign. This is the position we uphold,” the Belarusian leader said.

Aleksandr Lukashenko said that from the very beginning he was closely following the situation in the Caucasus region. He said he knows these problems very well and has discussed them many times with the leaders of Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan. “I am very pleased that this crisis has been resolved in the way we discussed (last time in St. Petersburg). I sincerely congratulate you on it,” the President said.

The Belarusian leader also drew attention to other problems and conflict situations. “There are many challenges in the present-day world. You know them. You must know that we are always ready to go our way, if Russia wants it, together with Russia, overcoming these problems, from the pandemic to all sorts of claims, first of all from the United States of America, for sole dominance in the world. We have never welcomed it and will never do it,” the Belarusian leader stressed.