MOSCOW, June 8. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit Minsk on Wednesday where he will hold talks with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko and take part in the plenary session of the forum of the regions of the two countries.
"On June 8 in Minsk, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko will take part in the plenary session of the third Forum of Regions of Russia and Belarus," the Kremlin press service said.
The two leaders will hold a separate meeting before the forum session. "It is planned to discuss the process of implementing the agreements reached at the session of the Supreme State Council of the Union State (Minsk, 25 February 2016) and other pressing issues of Russian-Belarusian relations," the Kremlin said. "It is also planned to exchange opinions on the results of the session of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council (Astana, 31 May 2016) and prospects for further expansion of integrational cooperation in the framework of the Eurasian Economic Union."
"The fact that the presidents of our countries are taking part in forums of inter-regional cooperation means that they assign great importance to such format of our cooperation," Russian Federation Council Speaker Valentian Matviyenko said ahead of the forum.
The topic of the forum that opened on June 7 is "implementation of coordinated social and economic policy in the Union State: achievements, problems, solutions and prospects." Among participants in the forum will be leadership of the Russian Federation Council, Belarusian Council of the Republic, and permanent Committee of the Union State. Heads of key ministries and departments traditionally take part in the forum, along with heads of executive and legislative bodies of Russian and Belarusian regions, representatives of big businesses, public and scientific organizations. The first forum took place in Minsk in June 2014, the second - in Sochi in September 2015.
On Tuesday participants in the forum - around 350 people - discussed social problems at thematic sections that took place at institutions and companies in Minsk. It is planned to sign $300 million worth of contracts in the framework of the forum. Several bilateral agreements are also expected to be signed.