[ad_1]
“We are aware of your proposal to start work on the Constitution. I think it is logical, timely and convenient,” Putin said at the beginning of their meeting at the presidential residence in the Sochi resort on the Black Sea.
In the first meeting between the two leaders since the beginning of the anti-government protests in Belarus, Putin stressed that the solution to the crisis unleashed after the presidential elections of August 9 must be resolved by the Belarusians themselves, without interference or external pressure so that “reach a common solution”.
Putin, who previously announced the formation of a joint police force to intervene in Belarus should the need arise, noted that Moscow will fulfill its obligations under the Union of States and the Collective Security Treaty Organization, which provides for the strengthening of political ties. economic and military.
The Kremlin leader also stressed that he sees Belarus as a close ally and agreed with Minsk to grant a loan valued at 1,500 million dollars (1,266 million euros).
Lukashenko thanked Putin and the Russian people for their support after the start of massive protests in Minsk and other cities in the country.
“He acted in a very decent way. Friends see each other in times of difficulty,” he said.
The Belarusian president – in power since 1994 in this former Soviet republic and elected for the sixth consecutive term with 80% of the votes cast on a ballot that the opposition considers fraudulent – criticized during the election campaign Russia’s attempts to destabilize the situation in your country. , but assured that he learned the “lesson”.
In this context, he denounced that the United States moved troops and tanks 15 kilometers from the Belarusian border, forcing Minsk to mobilize its army in the Grodno region, bordering Poland and Lithuania, two NATO countries.
Lukashenko, 66, also considered it necessary for Moscow and Minsk to prepare their armies to “counter” a possible aggression from abroad.
For his part, Putin indicated that the Russian troops, which will be sent to Belarus as part of the anti-terrorist military exercises “Slavic Brotherhood”, will return to their bases when the exercises end.
Today’s meeting took place the day after a new peaceful march against Lukashenko in Minsk, banned by the authorities and where more than 770 protesters were arrested.
The leader of the Belarusian opposition in exile, Svetlana Tijanovskaya, warned Putin today that the agreements he signed with Lukashenko will have no legal value.
“I want to remind Vladimir Putin that everything they agree on at the Sochi meeting will be useless. All the agreements signed by the illegitimate Lukashenko will be reviewed by the new authorities, because the people have taken away his confidence in these elections,” he stressed Tijanovskaya in a video message.
“I am very sorry that you have decided to have a dialogue with a usurper and not with the people of Belarus,” he added.
The opposition sees the proposed constitutional reform proposal by the Minsk authorities as an attempt to buy time and deflate street protests.
Putin’s support for the internal reform project, despite past frictions between Moscow and Minsk, still faces Russia’s fears of seeing Lukashenko’s hasty departure due to popular pressure, also encouraged by state-imposed sanctions. States and the European Union. they are ready to run, in a situation that could also encourage criticism of the Kremlin leader in their country.
Pavel Latushko, a former culture minister and ambassador to France, forced to leave Belarus after joining the opposition coordination council, warned that although the Kremlin currently supports Lukashenko, it may later encourage his departure.
“Lukashenko discredits himself day after day, and when he completely loses his authority, it will be easier for Moscow to replace him,” he told the Associated Press (AP).
“The Kremlin has already made the decision and is moving to complete a careful plan for Lukashenko to be removed,” he added.
