Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko in Sochi, Russia, today, and agreed that Russia would provide a state credit of $1.5 billion to financially-besieged Belarus, TASS reported. This can help diffuse a “color revolution” scenario back in Belarus which Western press are feverishly portraying. Putin stated that “We have agreed that Russia will provide a state credit [amounting to] $1.5 billion to Belarus in this challenging situation, and we will do it,” he said, adding that both countries’ finance ministers were “addressing that issue at the professional leveI.... I hope this will have an effect on the financial markets in a proper manner,” TASS quoted Putin.
The Russian President also suggested to President Lukashenko that efforts should be made to restore trade, which had declined, due to the pandemic: “We now have the opportunity to talk about everything in a calm manner, but first of all, we should discuss economic issues,” Putin said, noting that trade between Russia and Belarus had fallen by more than 21%, which Putin called “a significant decline.” He emphasized, “We will fight the coronavirus together, and I am sure we will overcome the current difficulties facing the economy.”
