MOSCOW, March 13. /TASS/. External pressure on Belarus and Russia is not weakening, sanctions have not gone away, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko stated at a press conference following a meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.

"The illegal economic sanctions of a number of countries have not gone away. But in some ways they have helped us," he noted.

According to Lukashenko, "the pressure on Belarus and Russia is not weakening, although it is already clear to everyone that these restrictions are hitting the countries that imposed them."

"But they also gave us the opportunity to seriously think about the prospects for our development and convinced us that after a certain time we will completely overcome this pressure," the Belarusian leader said.

He added that "if there were no such challenges, they would have to be invented."

"They made us think seriously about self-sufficiency, the importance of relying on our own strength, food security and technological sovereignty," Lukashenko noted.