MINSK, August 26. /TASS/. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko expects that the work of Russia’s newly appointed ambassador to Minsk, Mikhail Babich, will contribute to further development of bilateral relations.

In an interview with the Belarus-1 TV channel on Saturday, Lukashenko described the Russian ambassador as "a person with certain political weight" and "an experienced person with the understanding of many problems."

He said he had asked Russian President Vladimir Putin whether he could recommend Babich during a phone conversation that took place two months ago. According to Lukashenko, he gave his consent after Putin described the ambassador as "a person, who would contribute to normalization and intensification of our relations, a person who would work for good relations."

"All this talk about someone being sent to Belarus, someone who is about to take Belarus under his control and manipulate Lukashenko… this is total nonsense," the Belarusian president said.

Lukashenko added that the decision on Babich’s appointment was made prior to the Russian-Belarusian presidential meeting in Sochi and the issue was not raised during the event.

"We are ready to work with any representative of the Russian Federation," Lukashenko said. "If he wants Belarus to remain Russia’s closest ally for long, for centuries, the ambassador should act correspondingly.".