MINSK. Jan 22 (Interfax) - Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has given high marks to the support provided to Belarus by Russia, including "in real money."
"We are big friends with Putin, even though we sometimes have problems. I can tell him things directly , and he can do the same to me," Lukashenko said while meeting with the Belarusian media in Minsk on Tuesday.
Lukashenko reiterated that Russia is providing real support to Belarus, including with the implementation of a large-scale project to build a nuclear power plant. "It's real money, it's not words. We should value that and we should not be negative about Russia in any case," Lukashenko said. The Belarusian president also recalled the Russian loan in an amount of up to $2 billion. However, he pointed out that by providing that loan Russia also supported its own enterprises that manufacture parts and materials for Belarusian enterprises.
"We are friends [with Russia], we are brothers, we are one people. Who helped us when we had a hardship? The IMF? And they could have, they have a lot of money, but they said openly that they couldn't, for political motives. But Russia helped us," Lukashenko said. "And they will always help us, no matter how difficult things get. For several reasons and because losing Belarus would be a big political loss to Russia," he said.