Russia said on Thursday it would restructure some of its loans to Belarus, whose economy has been hurt by a weaker Russian ruble.
"We agreed to help them at this difficult time, regarding prolonging existing credit obligations," said Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev at a televised government meeting.
The former Soviet republic has a record $4 billion in debt payments this year, mostly to Russia and the International Monetary Fund.
Belarus has also asked the International Monetary Fund for a financial package, in addition to a $3.5 billion standby loan Belarus received from the IMF in 2009-2010 in the aftermath of the global financial crisis.
Belarus has deep economic ties to Moscow, and the country is facing a 2-percent economic contraction this year as it wrestles with Russia's downturn and currency devaluation, according to the IMF.
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