On April 28, President of the Republic of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko made a working visit to the Russian Federation.

In St. Petersburg, Alexander Lukashenko carried on negotiations with Vladimir Putin. The subjects discussed included important issues of the union construction, bilateral trade and economic interaction, cooperation in energy sector, coordination of positions within the integration unions of the post-Soviet space and in the foreign policy scene, current situation in the region.

Welcoming each other, the two presidents expressed intention to discuss a broad range of issues in an informal atmosphere.

According to Alexander Lukashenko the agenda of the meeting contained very many items “due to very many common questions that we have, not because there are many unresolved problems.”

The Head of State pointed out that the situation in Belarus is quiet, just as it was before the elections. “People are working, economy is functioning,” Alexander Lukashenko said.

“We are working quietly despite some political muddles around us or someone’s attempts to position oneself as opposition. There’s a saying with us: it is too late to shake fists when the battle is over. Even before the election I was saying that we would conduct that political campaign very delicately and calmly so that you also could not be ashamed, because Russia has always been supporting us. Whilst those who had a negative attitude to us before the election, they, in any case, continue having such attitude,” Alexander Lukashenko added.

At the same time, in view of the President of Belarus, “the times of emotions are going away, there comes a time of pragmatism, of implementing the plans.”

“And we see on the part of Americans and Europeans, that, despite all the clamour, they positively opt for cooperation. And we do cooperate in vitally important areas, the areas of interest for us, especially in economy,” the Belarusian leader underscored.

Vladimir Putin asked his Belarusian counterpart whether it would be possible to succeed in consolidating the republic’s political forces after the election with a view to addressing the existing problems.

Alexander Lukashenko said that the matters stand differently in Belarus. “Consolidation of political forces is important indeed. But we do not have such a problem. Practically the entire population voted in favour of the current president, as well as a part of the electorate which was supposed to vote in favour of the opposition. Therefore, if there’s a need to unite I will refer to one-two thousand persons, regrettably underaged youngsters, who were attempting to, ostensibly, destabilize something while being paid for that, the President said. I cannot say they are not important for us. Two thousand are very important too. But if they adopt a different position we can manage without them.”

Vladimir Putin said he was glad to see Alexander Lukashenko after the completion of the election campaign in Belarus. “I am sure that all those plans we were working over will be materialized,” he said and expressed the conviction the available problems would be resolved.

Upon completion of the talks, President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin hosted a working luncheon in honour of President of the Republic of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, after which the heads of state continued their conversation in an informal atmosphere.

On April 28 in the evening, the Head of the Belarusian State returned to Minsk.