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Russia sets no extra conditions for loan to Belarus apart from commercial, says Kremlin

Putin said at a meeting with Lukashenko in Sochi on Monday that Moscow will provide a state loan amounting to $1.5 bln to Minsk

Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov Mikhail Metzel/TASS

Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov

© Mikhail Metzel/TASS

MOSCOW, September 15. /TASS/. Russia did not set forth any additional conditions for the loan to Belarus apart from commercial, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Tuesday.

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Russia’s new loan cannot be interpreted as interference in affairs of Belarus — Kremlin

"Any loan has certain commercial conditions related to its servicing and so on. Those are commercial conditions though. Any loan still has a commercial side," he said, adding that "any other conditions are out of the question."

Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting with his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko in Sochi on Monday that Moscow will provide a state loan amounting to $1.5 bln to Minsk. Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin held a successful round of talks earlier in Minsk focused on all areas of cooperation between the two countries, including in the financial field, Putin noted. Peskov said following the talks between Russian and Belarusian presidents that one part of the new loan will be meant for refinancing of previous debts, whereas the other part is new funds.

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