Putin seeks close interaction between Russia, Belarus on world stage

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) - Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday said that it is “important” that his country and Belarus “closely interact on the world stage” and support each other.

“It is important that Russia and Belarus, under conditions of unprecedented external pressure, closely interact on the world stage and inevitably and invariably provide each other with truly allied mutual support,” Putin said at a meeting of the Supreme State Council of the Union State of Russia and Belarus.

Russia and Belarus are formally part of a union state and have been in talks for years to move closer together, a process that has accelerated in recent years.

During the meeting, which was also attended by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, Putin said that Moscow and Minsk’s approach toward current global and regional problems “coincide or are largely similar."

He further said that the program of coordinated actions they agreed upon until 2026 will serve to continue and develop Russian-Belarusian coordination in international affairs.

“In the interests of forming a truly multipolar, democratic and fair world order, ensuring equal and indivisible security, we will work together,” the Russian president said.

Expressing that mutual trade between the two countries is growing steadily from year to year, Putin said that Belarus has become a “nuclear power” with the construction of the country’s first nuclear power plant.

For his part, Lukashenko said that during the past two days, he and his Russian counterpart have analyzed the events that are happening in the world, expressing that the conflicts seen are signs that a multipolar world is coming.

“As the Russian Foreign Minister (Sergey Lavrov) said, the monopolist does not want this. They are trying to maintain a unipolar world using different methods and have reached the point of armed conflicts,” Lukashenko said.