Lukashenko: Belarus, Russia should stand up to economic pressure together

Belarus and Russia should hold out against economic pressure together, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko said as he met with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Moscow on 18 February, BelTA has learned.

“It is very important for us now, at the beginning of the year, to get prepared to withstand any economic pressure on us and on you. It is more difficult for us to deal with these sanctions. Therefore, I would like to talk to you about this issue,” the president said.

According to Aleksandr Lukashenko, the bilateral cooperation that picked up speed last year should maintain momentum: “As you have rightly said, the dynamics of our economic development suggests that they [opponents throughout the world] will not succeed. They will not be able to strangulate us. I think we will agree on gaining pace in this field.”

On the whole, the president stated that the economy both in Belarus and in Russia did pretty well last year, yet it faced inflation-related challenges. “There's no escaping external factors, primarily those that are driving inflation. Russia and Belarus are trying, as much as possible in market conditions, to curb inflation. It's not so easy,” the Belarusian leader said.