President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko on Thursday said that his country was “forced to integrate” with Russia, and stressed that true integration of the economies of the two countries implies the preservation of the sovereignty and independence of Belarus.

“We remain, as always, committed to real integration without compulsion to integrate,” Lukashenko said during a meeting with the head of the Eurasian Economic Commission Mikhail Myasnikovich.

Recently, relations between the two neighboring countries have been tense.. Negotiations to strengthen economic ties have stalled, Russia has suspended oil supplies to Belarus, and Lukashenko has repeatedly accused the Kremlin of trying to force a merger between the two countries.

Many believe that Russian President Vladimir Putin is seeking unification with Belarus in order to remain in power after the expiration of the presidential term allowed by law, becoming the head of a new union state.

Lukashenko noted that Belarus initiated “real integration” of the two states back in the 1990s, when Boris Yeltsin was in power, while maintaining “sovereignty and independence”.

“At that time we did not say that someone should lose sovereignty and independence. Despite all the difficulties in those days, we found solutions to complex issues, ”the Belarusian leader said..

Lukashenko, who has ruled Belarus for more than 20 years, in the 1990s really proposed creating a union state and, allegedly, hoped to become its leader. In 1997, Russia and Belarus signed the Treaty on the Union of Belarus and Russia, which provides for the strengthening of ties, but not the formation of a single state.