Belarus and Russia in The Union State always finds a solution. This was stated by Russian President Vladimir Putin at a meeting with the heads of world news agencies.
The Russian leader was asked if he had The Union State has a "plan B" in case the sanctions pressure increases.
"The first is Plan A. And it spells out what and how we should do in order to develop our relations and our economies. Then "plan B". If something doesn't work out, watch "Plan A". We will succeed. There is not even any doubt. Because the level of trade turnover between Russia and Belarus has reached $ 50 billion. These are serious figures," Putin said.
He also recalled that the growth of trade continues.
"It continues, including through cooperation. We are looking for opportunities to develop our relations in different areas where we may not have cooperated before, or there has been some kind of cooperation since the Soviet Union. In microelectronics, for example. Lukashenko (President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko — EADaily) many people scolded and laughed at him for keeping some kind of Soviet planning system and so on. First of all, there is no such thing. And secondly, after all, Alexander Grigorievich has retained some industries that are now, especially in the face of tough sanctions, have turned out to be in demand more than ever. Including enterprises in the field of microelectronics. Yes, of course, there is a need to reach other figures, a lot needs to be done, and all this has been done in other countries for decades. But we have the opportunity to take a good step, such a quick, powerful, big step together," the Russian leader said.
Putin noted that Minsk and Moscow have opportunities for cooperation in the aircraft industry.
"Somewhere, maybe, Belarus can make small airplanes by itself, with our cooperation, and somewhere it can participate in deeper cooperation in the production of aircraft, the final assembly of which will take place in Russia. In the field of agricultural machinery, our mutual cooperation of what is collected in Russia reaches well over 50%. I'm not even going to list everything else right now. We have a lot of areas of interaction. Belarus, as you know, is one of the world's largest suppliers of fertilizers. But almost the entire volume is now exported through the Russian Federation, through Russian ports," Putin said.
At the same time, the Russian president noted that "we have issues on which we are arguing."
"Moreover, these disputes go non-stop, on an ongoing basis. I'm just not going to go into details right now, but in the end we always find a solution because we strive to search sincerely. Therefore, we find. I am sure it will continue to be so," the Russian leader stressed.
Recall that Belarus and Russia has been building a Union State since 1999. In recent years, the integration of the two countries has reached a new level.