Russia defers Belarus' loan repayments to 'mutually acceptable' dates citing debt recovery

Amid the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine with neighbouring Belarus supporting Russia's President Vladimir Putin's decision to launch aggressive military operations against Ukraine, the Russian government has now decided to postpone Belarus' repayment of a government loan for the next 5–6 years, said Belarusian Finance Minister Yuri Seliverstov on Sunday.

Seliverstov said in an interview with the Belarus-1 television channel, "It was proposed to reschedule some payments for more comfortable dates that are mutually acceptable for our countries, to postpone them from five to six years." As a matter of fact, it will make it possible for us not to raise resources to service and repay our debts with our partners from Russia," reported TASS Russian News Agency.

Russian govt postpones Belarus' repayment of government loans for next 5-6 years

Seliverstov said that part of the released funds will go to "support those economic sectors that will help to strengthen bilateral trade, especially at a time when western countries have imposed heavy sanctions on Russia. He further asserted that Moscow and Minsk are not looking at using the Russian ruble as a common currency. "As a matter of fact, it has never been discussed directly. The matter is that we should use the currencies our countries have in foreign trade," he said. "I am sure the current situation will push many to refuse the use of the dollar. I am sure that we will soon begin to use either national currencies or the Russian ruble," TASS reported.

Russia-Ukraine war

Meanwhile, the situation in Ukraine continues to worsen due to aggressive military operations launched by Russia. The war has entered its 26th day with continued shelling reported in Kyiv, Chernihiv, Kharkiv, Mariupol, and other key cities, and negotiations between the two countries are underway. Kremlin on the other hand has made it clear that "there will be no ceasefire during the peace talks between Russia and Ukraine," asserted Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov on Monday. Earlier in the day, the Kremlin revealed that peace talks between Russia and Ukraine have not yet made any significant progress and accused Kyiv of stalling truce talks by putting forth unacceptable proposals.

Image: AP