- Title: Putin meets Belarus’ Lukashenko amid talk of deeper integration
- Date: 20th December 2019
- Summary: ST. PETERSBURG, RUSSIA (DECEMBER 20, 2019) (RUSSIAN POOL) ***WARNING: CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** RUSSIAN PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN GREETING AND HUGGING HIS BELARUSIAN COUNTERPART ALEXANDER LUKASHENKO MEDIA / BILATERAL TALKS IN PROGRESS (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) RUSSIAN PRESIDENT, VLADIMIR PUTIN, SAYING: "On December 8, we marked the 20th anniversary of the signing of the union treaty. Straight away, I'd like to note that despite the fact that not much has been done as part of this agreement, you and I both acknowledged this, the results of the work as part of this agreement are significant. When we began this process, our trade turnover was $9 billion, now it's 35.5 ($35.5 billion)." MEETING IN PROGRESS (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) BELARUSIAN PRESIDENT, ALEXANDER LUKASHENKO, SAYING: "Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, we did not diverge far from each other in economics, politics or the social sphere. This is also one of the great achievements of this treaty. If we had not implemented the points it laid out, then we would have drifted apart from Russia with other republics of the post-Soviet space, not only the Baltic states or Ukraine. It's also testament to what we have done in recent years." MEETING IN PROGRESS
- Embargoed: 3rd January 2020 12:00
- Keywords: Alexander Lukashenko Belarus Russia-Belarus Russian President Vladimir Putin
- Location: ST PETERSBURG, RUSSIA
- City: ST PETERSBURG, RUSSIA
- Country: Russia
- Topics: Diplomacy/Foreign Policy,Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA001BAS5B95
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:Russian President Vladimir Putin praised the development of relations between Russia and Belarus during a meeting with his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko in Saint Petersburg on Friday (December 20).
During their meeting, Putin noted significant progress made as part of the Union State treaty between the two countries, which was signed in December 1999. He also said that much of the work envisaged in the agreement remained incomplete.
Russia and Belarus have been discussing deeper integration, or a 'union state', for around two decades, but have failed to agree on key points, including a united currency.
The leaders discussed 'prospects for deepening integration as part of a union state' in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi on Dec. 7.
Russia has helped prop Lukashenko over the past 25 years with loans and energy subsidies, but Moscow started to scale back this help last year, prompting Lukashenko to accuse Russia of trying to bully his much smaller country into a union.
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