Putin denies plans to unify Russia, Belarus into single state
MOSCOW. June 20 (Interfax) - Russia and Belarus are not going to become a single state, Russian President Vladimir Putin said during his Q&A session on Thursday.
"Our unification into a single state is not on the agenda. This is about implementing a treaty which was signed years ago on proclaiming the establishment of the Union State, as it's called. This isn't a unified state; it's different," Putin said.
Some provisions of this document have not been fulfilled by Russia and some by Belarus, he said.
"We have now reached an agreement with Alexander Grigoryevich Lukashenko that we will go back to this treaty and will look together what needs to be done of what has not been done and what needs to be adjusted," the president said.
Expert groups formed at the level of the government administration are actively working on it, he said.
Putin said in early June there are no grounds for state unification of Russia and Belarus and there were no such plans.