Russia's Putin Meets Belarus' Lukashenko in Capital Minsk

This is the second foreign trip of the Russian head of state after taking office for a new term on May 7. Last week, Putin visited China on a state visit, now he is paying an official visit to Belarus, and on May 26 and 27 he will work in Uzbekistan, where he will also go on a state visit.
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Sputnik is live as Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, is meeting with Alexander Lukashenko, the president of Belarus, in Minsk. Among other things, the two leaders are expected to talk about how to advance the strategic partnership between Russia and Belarus.
The Kremlin said that at the negotiations between the presidents it is planned to discuss “topical issues of the further development of Russian-Belarusian relations of strategic partnership and alliance, the progress and prospects of integration interaction within the Union State, as well as key topics on the international agenda.”
The Belarusian president, who met his Russian counterpart at the airport, said that during the talks on Friday afternoon the emphasis would be on economic issues. Putin also announced his intention to discuss security issues, including the participation of the Belarusian military in the second stage of Russian exercises to test the use of non-strategic nuclear weapons.
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