ST. PETERSBURG, July 13. /TASS/. Belarus remains Russia’s large and reliable partner in the economic sphere, the trade turnover between the two countries is growing, President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday at a meeting with his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko.

"I would like to note that the Republic of Belarus generally remains our large and reliable partner in the economic sphere. I would like to note that last year’s trade turnover slightly declined due to coronavirus, by around 17%. This year, in the first 4-5 months, it [trade turnover] has grown significantly, by more than 37%," Putin said, adding that this is a "good figure".

Putin added that Belarus serves all loans and reduces its external debt despite all sanctions, acts as a reliable and stable partner. "Despite coronavirus, other situations, including those related to external challenges, I mean all sorts of sanctions, the republic serves all loans. Moreover, the external debt of Belarus has decreased by 2.5%, by 0.5 bln rubles. In this sense, Belarus is a reliable and stable partner, gold and foreign exchange reserves significantly exceed the required level for servicing foreign trade operations," Putin said.

The last time Putin and Lukashenko met at the end of May to discuss trade and economic relations and the fight against the coronavirus pandemic, the conversation also mentioned the incident with the Ryanair plane. In addition, on July 1, Putin and Lukashenko held a telephone conversation, in which they discussed problems of the ongoing sanctions pressure on Belarus and opening more Belavia flights to Russia.