Putin met with Lukashenko ahead of the CSTO summit to discuss security and economic cooperation.
Russian President Vladimir Putin met with his Belarusian counterpart, Alexander Lukashenko, ahead of the summit of the Organization for Collective Security (OTSC), which will take place this Wednesday (11).
This is the sixth face-to-face meeting between the two this year, and the eighth in the last 12 months, reflecting the close coordination between Moscow and Minsk.
Key statements before the meeting:
Putin stated that the discussions will refer to security in the broadest sense, in addition to economic cooperation and humanitarian issues.
The Russian president praised the volume of bilateral trade, as well as the pace of cooperation, and emphasized progress in investments and high-tech projects.
Lukashenko thanked Russia for helping Belarus obtain modern weapons for its armed forces.
Putin expressed gratitude to the Belarusian leader for helping to organize humanitarian exchanges.
"We are in constant contact, we almost never stop," Putin noted.