Russian
President Vladimir Putin and his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko concur
that the “problems” in Belarus will soon be ironed out, the Kremlin said on
Saturday.

Lukashenko contacted
Moscow after protests broke out against his controversial landslide victory in
the Belarusian presidential elections last Sunday.

“Both sides
expressed confidence that all the problems that have arisen will be resolved
soon,” a statement from the Kremlin read, reported AFP.

Russia has backed
Lukashenko during the widespread demonstrations held across the country. The
protests have garnered a growing support from Belarusians while also attracting
international criticism for police violence and alleged vote rigging.

Also Read: UN rights chief condemns crackdown in Belarus

Highlighting
the exchanges between Putin and Lukashenko, the Kremlin statement said, “the
most important thing is to prevent destructive forces from taking advantage of
these problems.”

It also
said that these forces “are striving to harm the mutually beneficial
cooperation of the two countries in the union state,” adding that the two sides
have agreed to continue regular contact and their “intention to strengthen their
relations as a union.”

In earlier statements supporting Lukashenko’s victory, Russia had underscored the
importance of bolstering alliance between the two nations, which are formally a
union state and have no border restrictions during the coronavirus pandemic.

However, Lukashenko
has said that he opposes a unification with Russia.

Belarusian
riot police have resorted to using brutal violence to curb the ongoing protests, with many reports coming of detainees being beaten and tortured in prison.

Also Read: Tens of thousands rally in Belarus against post-vote crackdown

While Belarus
remains highly dependent on Russia for economical support, Lukashenko, who has
been in presidency for the past 26 years, has a history of playing Russia of
against the neighbouring European Union nations.

Lukashenko
had earlier criticised Russia during his election campaign, with Belarus detaining
33 Russian nationals on suspicion of planning riots ahead of the elections.

He has
since, however, changed his stance and is now pinning the blame for the
protests on agitators from Poland and the Netherlands.

On Friday,
Belarus returned all but one of the 33 detained Russians without charging them
as a gesture towards Russia. They had earlier alleged that the detainees were Wagner
mercenaries, a shadowy private army funded by a close ally of Putin.