Russia's President Vladimir Putin (C) speaks with his Belarus counterpart Alexander Lukashenko (L) as they watch a joint military exer...
Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko said on last Friday that his country is ready to unite with its long-time ally, Russia. His commenting has given assurance that Moscow and Minsk could emerge together into the Union Republic. Lukashenko, who has ruled the former Soviet state since the presidential post was created in 1994, said this on the final day of the bilateral talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Moscow Times reported.
Rumors have long abounded that Belarus could be absorbed into Russia under Putin’s watch, deepening the “union state” arrangement that has existed between them since the late 1990s. “The two of us could unite tomorrow, no problem,” said Lukashenko. “But are you—Russians and Belarusians—ready for it?” the president added, according to Interfax. “We’re ready to unite and consolidate our efforts, states, and peoples as far as we’re ready.” Mr. Putin mocked the concept of independent states in his subsequent remarks of reiterating that “simply there are no fully independent states in the world, the modern world is a world of interdependence.”
Where is their sovereignty? But apparently, they believe that in the ultimate, general calculation, they are interested in such an organization in which they have invested part of their sovereignty,” he said. The president voiced his support for the idea as long ago as 2011 when he said a union was “possible, desirable and wholly dependent on the will of the Belarusian people.” In December, Lukashenko said the union state agreement had been a success, Russian state-backed news agency Tass reported. He declared ''The will of Belarusians and Russians toward unity and this will serve as a solid foundation for integration, multi-faceted cooperation and formation of common new history''.