The question of relations between Moscow and Minsk is “really very emotional,” said Dmitry Peskov, spokesman for the Russian president, RIA Novosti reported.
The Kremlin representative commented on the remarks of Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko, who, on the eve of the meeting with Vladimir Putin, said that “a certain moment of truth” had arrived.
Peskov noted that both presidents do a lot for the development of bilateral cooperation, while Russia and Belarus remain sovereign states with their own goals.
“But they are gathering together in the name of allied, common interests, which we are witnessing now,” he said on the air of the “Moscow. Kremlin. Putin” program on Rossiya 1 channel.
Putin and Lukashenko held talks in Sochi on Friday. The meeting was held amid disagreements between the parties on the oil and gas issue. According to the results of the visit of Belarusian colleagues, the deputy head of the presidential administration Dmitry Kozak said that oil and gas will be supplied on the same commercial basis and on the terms of 2019. Prices and volumes of Russian energy supplies to Belarus will be regulated by the market.
The deputy head of the presidential administration said that Minsk asked for a discount, but the Russian authorities did not go for it. Kozak explained this by the impossibility of state regulation of the oil market. Moreover, the dialogue of the presidents, in his estimation, was held in a positive manner.
