President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Mr Lukashenko, even though we are, like you
said, 7,000 kilometres away from our respective countries, no matter where we
meet, we always find something to talk about and we always need to meet and talk, which is quite interesting.
Just now, I was discussing with some
of our colleagues…
President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko 
Lukashenko AlexanderPresident of Belarus : We were watching.
Vladimir Putin: And I told one of our colleagues (I will say more about that later)
that, all things considered, our trade and economic relations are doing quite
well, but our trade with Belarus exceeds $50 billion. Russia does not have that
many trade partners with trade volumes like that.
Alexander Lukashenko: I think we are in the fourth place.
Vladimir Putin: Yes, maybe.
What do I mean by this? I mean that
our meetings are not in vain. This is, after all, the result of our joint work.
This is excellent. I am very glad to see you.
We just worked together, literally
yesterday, within the framework of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.
Tomorrow we will attend a parade to celebrate victory, which marked the end of World War II. This is also our common cause, in this particular case, we did it
in conjunction with our Chinese friends.
This is an opportunity for us to discuss
bilateral relations. I am very glad to have it.
Alexander Lukashenko: Mr Putin, thank you for inviting me to your home. Even though in China,
it is still your home. It took us a while to get here, though. It turns out we
live close to one another, just a hundred metres away.
I am glad to meet with you and to discuss a number of issues pertaining to the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation,
among others. I always acknowledge this and emphasise that thanks to you and the People’s Republic of China, we are the only European country in this
family.
Vladimir Putin: Slovakia?
Alexander Lukashenko: They are not members yet [of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation].
Vladimir Putin: Well, they came for the event.
Alexander Lukashenko: No, I am talking about European SCO members. That is why this is critically
important for us. We had the opportunity to speak with all the presidents, even
Prime Minister [of India] Narendra Modi. We have not seen each other in a while,
so we had an exchange and talked. This is also very important.
You understand that no country can
replace Russia for us, so it is crucial that we have this meeting today. I am
aware that you supported China’s initiative on global governance.
Vladimir Putin: It is a good initiative.
Alexander Lukashenko: It is, indeed. The most important thing is equality, as always, and justice.
I just met with the leadership, representatives of the Chinese leadership, as well. The only thing I mentioned at the end [of the meeting] is that most
importantly China should not off-ramp and abandon this initiative, but stick to it. You know, sometimes they grow big, and then get afflicted with globalism.
China said, “No way, this is our fourth initiative, and we will follow it
religiously.”
As for the parade, they were in Moscow,
where we celebrated our Victory together. Of course, no matter how difficult it
could be, we had to be here. And we are thankful for being invited to this
parade. More than three dozen heads of state will attend. True, it will be hot:
almost 40 degrees. Even you will feel the heat. I am already wondering how we
will stand in this sun. Well, they say everything will be all right there.
As for bilateral relations, it is
surprising that we have, as I reviewed this yesterday, almost no issues, even
fewer than Russia has with China. Although today we identified three problems
with China, which I will tell you about later. We are ready to move forward in this direction.
I would like to congratulate you on having an excellent meeting with Donald Trump
in Alaska. We applauded you – both sides, because there is no need to say that
one has won and the other lost – no, you worked great together.
I looked at the Ukraine issue: they
have nothing to counter. They only shout in the West: “Bad, bad.” Well, things
are always bad with them. I think they will also become wiser and join the initiatives that you outlined with the US President.
We are working together on all
fronts, as you know, and we will carry on. When the US President called, we
discussed this issue, and I said: we are one country. In fact, Russia is
fighting alone, but we support it as best we can and will continue to do so,
and I am saying this publicly. This is a disaster. Time will tell who is right
and who is guilty. Many will also thank us, especially in Europe, that once
again, in this difficult time, we are working to stop Nazism, which could
otherwise deteriorate into fascism.
Therefore, Mr Putin, we will fulfill
our role and mission together up to the end.
Vladimir Putin: You said that no one can replace
Russia for Belarus. I want to say in response that no one can replace Belarus
for Russia either. We have very close interstate relations, and good personal
relations with you as well, though that may not be the most important thing.
What truly matters is that the results of our joint work are clear, as I have
already said. From the standpoint of economic growth, and even structural
improvement of the economy, we are accomplishing a lot, and doing it quite
effectively. There are many promising areas for cooperation, primarily
industrial cooperation. We will probably discuss this in more detail.