Productive meeting and strategic cooperation: what Putin and Lukashenko discussed in Minsk

This is reported by Russian and Belarusian propaganda media.

Russian President Putin said during the negotiations that this meeting was "very productive", and the self-proclaimed president of Belarus noted that people "will appreciate both the decisions made here today and the strategy".

In particular, Putin stated that Belarus is "not only a good neighbour" of Russia, but also "an ally in the most direct sense of the word."

"Recently, we have really paid a lot of attention to issues of security and cooperation in the international arena. And in general, we should be satisfied with the way our relations are developing," Putin said.

Lukashenko, in his turn, said that "strengthening Belarusian-Russian ties has become a natural response to the changing situation in the world."

In particular, according to him, local voters feel the shortcomings of the policy of "protection of democracy and progress with the help of restrictions and military force" in relation to Russia and Belarus, and therefore it is necessary to show "political will and focus on the result".

"In no case should we make the mistakes made after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Therefore, our absolute priority is to resolve sensitive economic issues, the well-being of the population depend on, and support for our reforms in the public and political spheres," said the Belarusian leader.