Putin to hold meeting with Belarusian president

Russian President Vladimir Putin will hold a meeting with his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko who is currently on a working visit to Russia.

The Belarusian head of state arrived in Russia on Saturday evening.

The Kremlin press service said earlier that the two leaders would discuss "pressing issues related to the further development of Russian-Belarusian relations of strategic partnership and alliance, as well as integration within the Union State."

Minsk officials, in turn, pointed out that the presidents would touch upon "a wide range of the most important and fundamental issues of bilateral relations, including those pertaining to security, the international agenda, economic cooperation, the implementation of Union State programs and cooperation in countering illegal sanctions pressure."

Lukashenko said at a meeting with Belarusian and foreign reporters on July 6 that he and Putin had agreed to meet "in the near future." According to him, the meeting‍‍`s agenda would include the situation around the Wagner Private Military Company (PMC) and its "future operations." According to the Belarusian president, "this is the simplest problem that is being solved and it will be solved." An agreement on the Wagner group‍‍`s relocation to Belarus was reached in the wake of an attempted armed mutiny in Russia in June.

Strategic partnership

Putin has repeatedly highlighted special relations between Russia and Belarus. He pointed out that Minsk was Moscow‍‍`s "strategic partner and closest ally."

The two countries are working on 28 Union State programs, particularly aimed at harmonizing their macroeconomic policies and integrating payment systems. The parties also agreed to create single gas, oil and energy markets.

When speaking about economic cooperation between Belarus and Russia, Lukashenko noted that some issues were yet to be resolved. According to the Belarusian leader, those include problems related to the creation of a single energy market. Also, there are "transport and logistics problems, as well as some minor issues."

Putin and Lukashenko maintain regular contact. This will be their sixth meeting this year. The first five meetings also took place in Russia. The leaders have recently discussed the development of economic relations, the deployment of Russian nuclear weapons to Belarus and the international situation. Besides, the two leaders hold telephone conversations when necessary.