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Putin arrives in Belarus for talks with Lukashenko

This is Putin’s first visit to Belarus since June 2019

© Sergei Karpukhin/TASS

MINSK, December 19. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived on a one-day working visit to Minsk on Monday to hold talks with his Belarusian counterpart, Alexander Lukashenko.

This is Putin’s first visit to Belarus since June 2019, when he attended boxing and artistic gymnastics competitions as part of the 2nd European Games.

The program of today’s meeting is expected to be quite meaty. Talks will begin in an extended format, involving the two countries’ government officials and ministers, along with the presidents. The parties will discuss in detail the most pressing issues of Belarusian-Russian integration.

After that, the presidents will continue talks tete-a-tete, will make statements and speak to journalists.

According to the Belarusian side, the two countries’ defense ministers are expected to take part in the meeting between the two presidents.

The agenda of the talks includes the entire spectrum of bilateral relations, including trade and economic cooperation and the implementation of the Union State’s programs. According to Lukashenko, another topic will be the military-political situation around the two states, issues of the defense sector, security, and combat capacity. It is also planned to address gas-related matters, and current issues on the international and regional agenda.

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