Putin blames West for pushing Russia into "unification processes" with Belarus

ALONA MAZURENKO — FRIDAY, 1 JULY 2022, 15:42

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that the West is pushing the Russian Federation into "unification processes" with Belarus.

Source: BBC Russian service 

Quote: "Unprecedented political and sanction pressure from the so-called "collective West" is pushing us to accelerate unification processes."

Details: Putin did not specify what kind of acceleration he was talking about.

He said that during a meeting with self-proclaimed president of Belarus Alexandr Lukashenko on 25 June, they "discussed this issue in detail, in particular agreeing to use the transshipment capabilities of the Russian port terminal in the Baltic for the export of Belarusian goods to foreign markets".

Lukashenko called on other countries of the former USSR to draw closer to Russia and Belarus: "Without the fastest possible unification and cohesion, strengthening of interstate ties and just normal human relations, we may not exist tomorrow."