Meeting with Director of Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service Sergey Naryshkin

It is important that the special services of Belarus and Russia collaborate, taking into account the external situation, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko said as he met with Director of Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service Sergey Naryshkin in Minsk on 22 October.

The head of state welcomed the guest. “It is believed that we have not seen each other for a long time. We cooperated very actively when you headed the house of Parliament [Sergey Naryshkin headed the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation in 2011-2016]. You were the most prominent politician in the post-Soviet space, and then you, as chekists say, withdrew into shadows because of the specifics of your current work. So I am happy to meet with you. I have been following your work mostly on TV from the reports of your and my colleagues. The Russian President often tells me about you. Many documents... Introduces me to the insights of the Foreign Intelligence Service of the Russian Federation that concern our relations and the Union State,” the President said.

"I am sure our meeting will create an explosion of sorts in the media, especially on the internet. We do not hide the fact that the situation around us, I mean the Union State, is not easy. I thank you for the information that you regularly share with our special services and with me as well," Aleksandr Lukashenko said.

He stressed that he is very grateful for such information and that it is taken seriously in Belarus. “In this regard, we have a lot of joint work in this direction, because in this world, the world that has gone frenzy, especially over this pandemic and so on, we do not have many friends, let us be frank. Everyone has an interest in us - in Russia, Belarus. We have to respond. Therefore, I think we will agree on a lot of things - to work together for the benefit of our peoples,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.