Putin reaffirms his support for Lukashenko with a loan of 1,500 million dollars

Russia's President Vladimir Putin and his Belarusian counterpart Aleksandr Lukashenko reiterated their alliance and unity on Monday in their first face-to-face meeting after the Belarusian elections on August 9, the official result of which is rejected on the street by an important part of Belarusian society.

At Putin's official residence in Sochi, on the shores of the Black Sea, the Russian leader once again congratulated and wished Lukashenko “success” on his victory.

"Friends recognize each other in misfortune," said the Belarusian.

That friendship has been reflected from the beginning in a Russian government loan of 1.5 billion dollars (1.26 billion euros) for Belarus "at this difficult time," Putin stressed.

It has also been reflected in the debate on joint projects in the commercial, economic, energy and cultural fields as well as on the perspectives of integration processes within the framework of the Unified State.

Lukashenko arrived in Sochi in the morning in his official plane and the leaders, who spoke alone, without the delegations that accompanied them, have not signed concrete agreements and have not held a final press conference.

Apparently they have also failed to run the parallel recreation program that Lukashenko's trips to Sochi used to conclude.

The two leaders had last seen each other on June 30 during the unveiling of a memorial for the fallen Soviets in World War II.

The absence of official signatures seems to indicate that the two allies are taking time to see how the situation evolves in Belarus, where "the red line has not been crossed," Lukashenko said, referring to the protests.

The Belarusian leader has said to have drawn conclusions from what happened.

Namely, that "these events have shown that we must collaborate with the older brother in all matters."

Lukashenko appealed to Russia for help within the framework of the Collective Defense Treaty Organization (ODKV) and Putin mobilized police and security personnel ready to intervene against the protests.

Russia will fulfill its obligations to Belarus "regardless of who is in power at the time," Putin said.

The words of Putin and Lukashenko, in the official Kremlin transcript, indicate that both are confident in the recovery of control by the Belarusian leader.

Putin however has stressed the need for a regime evolution.

"Belarusians themselves had to clarify the situation in their country without indications from outside," said the Russian president, who described the proposal to start working on a constitutional reform as "logical and timely".

“I am sure that, taking into account his experience of political work, the work in this regard will be organized at the highest level and this will allow reaching a new level in the development of the country's political system, that is, creating conditions for a further development ”, he declared.

According to the Bloomberg agency, which cites sources in the Kremlin, Putin is surprised by the scale of the protests, but does not believe that the street actions could cost Lukashenko power.

After recalling that the NATO countries carried out military exercises on the border with Belarus during the protests, Lukashenko has proposed organizing joint military exercises with Russia "years in advance" and "without paying attention" to what they are told. Carrying the allusions Lukashenko said to the historical terrain and to the invasion of Nazi Germany: "we must prevent the mistakes of the Second World War."

Putin has stressed that the Russian troops will return to their bases after the exercises in Belarus and also that these military exercises are routine activities that had been planned last year and were going to last for several days.

"I repeat it again so that there is no speculation, this event was planned and even announced last year," said the Russian.

After the meeting, Dmitri Peskov, Russian spokesman, has reported that the reserve of police officers and national guards sent to the Belarusian border as reinforcement would return to their permanent bases, as reported by Interfax, which is interpreted as a vote of confidence that Lukashenko will end up controlling the situation in the country.

In economics, Putin recalled that Russia is the largest investor in Belarus and that only the project to build the nuclear power plant represents the equivalent of 10 billion dollars.

He also stressed that more than 50% of Belarus' trade is carried out with Russia and that there are almost 2,500 companies with Russian capital in the country.

After acknowledging that COVID-19 had influenced trade, Putin has proposed making additional efforts not only to restore the pre-crisis level of trade but to create "preconditions for moving forward."

He has also come out in favor of continuing collaboration in the defense field, especially in the military industry.

More tension and more fear

On the eve of the presidents' meeting, tens of thousands of Belarusians took to the streets on Sunday, culminating the fifth consecutive week of protests against alleged electoral fraud, Lukashenko's march and new elections.

It was the first time that the Sunday demonstration was held without the presence of the members of the coordinating council of the opposition, who are either in exile or in prison, with the exception of the Nobel Prize for Literature Svetlana Alexievich.

In Minsk the protesters exceeded 100,000, according to various attendees, although the Interior Ministry estimated the participation at 3,000.

The security forces acted more harshly than in previous weeks, according to information released on independent Telegram channels, and more than 400 arrests were registered in the capital.

The Belarusian authorities also confirmed that there were shots in the air on Sunday and the Russian television channel Dozhd, which covers the protests extensively, reported that the climate of the demonstrations is now more fearful and more tense.

Also at the women's march on Saturday, the officers were tougher and more expeditious than on previous occasions.

From exile and on the eve of the Sochi meeting, Lukashenko's main contender, Svetlana Tijanóvskaia, warned President Putin that she considers the Belarusian as an illegitimate leader and that therefore, according to her, the documents signed by him do not have any value and will be reviewed by future leaders of the country.