MOSCOW, March 13. /TASS/. Russia continues building up interaction with Belarus in many strategically important sectors, President Vladimir Putin said after talks with Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko.

Russia has already invested about $4.5 bln into the Belarusian economy, Putin said. "More than two thousand Russian companies are working in the republic. Joint projects for import phaseout and creation of competitive products with the high added value are being implemented," the Russian leader said.

This pertains to such strategically important sectors as production of automobiles and machine tools, agricultural machinery, microelectronics and civil aviation, Putin noted. "We have good prospects there," he stressed.