MOSCOW, February 9. /TASS/: Russian and Belarusian Presidents, Vladimir Putin and Alexander Lukashenko, are doing much to develop bilateral relations although they are committed to their countries’ interests, Russian president’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov said on Sunday.
"You know that both Lukashenko and Putin are doing much to develop our bilateral relations. Both Russia and Belarus are sovereign states and they both defends, first of all, their own interests. That is why priorities are obvious and that is why each president behaves correspondingly - defends own interests. But they come together for the sake of our own union-state interests and we see it," he said in an interview with the Moscow. Kremlin. Putin program on the Rossiya-1 television channel.
However, he noted, a number of issues are still unsettled after the talks between the two leaders. "Expert opinion, expert estimates are needed to resolve them," he added.
Putin and Lukashenko had several rounds of talks in Russia’s Sochi on February 7. They first met tete-a-tete and then were joined by the delegations. However, some members of the Russian delegation were unable to reach Sochi in due time because of the bad weather. After that, the leaders played ice hockey and then returned to the negotiating table again, with all members of the delegations present.
Deputy head of the Russian president’s administration Dmitry Kozak said after the talks that Russia and Belarus had agreed on gas supplies in 2020 on the 2019 terms. He said Moscow and Minsk would continue consultations on integration matters.
