SOCHI, May 28. /TASS/. The trade turnover between Russia and Belarus will surpass the pre-pandemic levels this year, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said at a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Sochi on Friday.

"We expect trade turnover to surpass the pre-pandemic, pre-COVID level this year," he said.

Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said at a meeting with his Belarusian counterpart Roman Golovchenko on Thursday that the trade turnover between the two countries gained 25% in the first quarter of 2021 year-on-year and surpassed the pre-pandemic level.

In 2019, the Russian-Belarusian trade turnover amounted to $35.55 bln, whereas in 2020 it went down to $29.5 bln.