Putin sure Russia, Belarus will find solution to disputes

BISHKEK, February 28. /TASS/. Disputes between neighboring countries naturally emerge from time to time, Russia and Belarus are no exception, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a press conference following talks with his Kyrgyz counterpart Almazbek Atambayev.

"There are always some disagreements, but I am sure that we can find a way out of any situation, even the most complicated ones," he added.

"These disputes are common, every country advocates its own interests," Putin stressed adding that Russia had been providing great assistance to Belarus. "We have provided Belarus with credit lines totaling six billion dollars," the Russian leader stressed. According to him, Minsk receives Russian oil free of duties while it sells some amount of this oil after processing it, thus increasing budged revenues. "But we don’t regret this because in the long term, Russia’s economy will benefit from bilateral cooperation as it boosts our competitive capabilities," Putin said. "This is why we don’t consider it to be a waste of money but reasonable steps aimed at future results."

Putin went on to say that integration processes in the former Soviet countries are natural and "highly useful for all." "We have a common transport infrastructure, a road and a railway network, as well as a common energy infrastructure. We have been enjoying a high level of cooperation since the Soviet times," the Russian president said. "It would be unreasonable not to value all this and not to try to give new impetus to this processes, taking into account what is going on in the world recently. On international level, regional integration has been developing."

Putin said that integration had already resulted in the influx of goods that turned out to be cheaper and of higher quality compared to the ones that Russia had to import before imposing sanctions on a number of countries.