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Russian-Belarusian talks

September 21, 2018, Sochi

At the Bocharov Ruchei residence in Sochi, Vladimir Putin met with President of the Republic of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, who is in Russia on a working visit.

During the talks, the presidents discussed key issues of bilateral relations, prospects for developing Eurasian integration and major international matters.

* * *

Beginning of the meeting with President of the Republic of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko

President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Mr President, friends,

We are glad to see you in Russia. Not so long ago Mr Lukashenko and I met here in this place, spoke about our current affairs and the future of the integration associations in which we are taking an active part. We spoke about our bilateral relations and agreed to meet in an expanded format, all the more so since substantial changes have taken place in the Belarusian Government.

We must make sure we are on the same page on a number of issues and we need to finalise some other questions. Quite recently, there were many disputes on agriculture and we should dot the i's on energy issues. Therefore, we agreed to meet in an expanded format.

We are very happy to see you in Sochi. We will now have this opportunity.

Welcome!

President of the Republic of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko: Thank you, Mr President.

We strictly abide by our agreements and commitments, both Belarusians and Russians and you and me, of course.

You rightly noted that we agreed to meet here in an expanded format. This is exactly the attendance – at that time we determined which officials would take part in these talks.

However, I have to tell you that both the Belarusian and Russian governments carried out serious work after that. The Prime Minister reported to me after his latest meeting with the Prime Minister of Russia: there are very interesting ways of resolving many issues and if we move in this direction, I am certain we will resolve practically all issues by the end of the year.

They are not so complicated although financially some of them are difficult because they involve large cash flows. Nevertheless, they must be resolved and much has been done to resolve matters in agriculture and the oil and gas sector, which you have just mentioned.

I do not see any special difficulties in resolving these issues. I think we should simply make decisions.

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September 21, 2018, Sochi