Prime Minister Vladimir Putin voiced support Monday for Russia to merge with Belarus.
Putin's remarks were a response to a question from a young Belarussian who wondered whether Russia and Belarus could merge into "one state like it was in the Soviet times." Putin said the return to Soviet-style unity is "possible, desirable and wholly dependent on the will of the Belarussian people."
Belarussian officials offered no immediate comment on Putin's statement.
