On February 8, Russia’s Security Council members exchanged opinions on various aspects of Russian-Belarusian relations in the run-up to the visit by Alyaksandr Lukashenka and his talks with Vladimir Putin.
The participants also discussed the situation in Syria in the context of the upcoming summit of the leaders of Russia, Turkey and Iran on February 14, the official website of Russia’s president reports.
The agenda also covered current domestic socioeconomic issues.
The meeting was attended by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matviyenko, Secretary of the Security Council Nikolai Patrushev, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, Director of the Federal Security Service Alexander Bortnikov, Director of the Foreign Intelligence Service Sergei Naryshkin and others.
A day before. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in an interview with the newspaper Izvestia that he leaders of Russia and Belarus would hold a meeting on February, 13 in Sochi,
According to Peskov, the presidents will discuss the activity of the Russian-Belarusian working group on integration process established at the end of 2018, as well as a number of ‘controversial issues’. Lukashenka and Putin agreed to hold a new meeting during their telephone conversation on January, 31.
At the end of 2018, the Belarusian-Russian relations significantly deteriorated. In late December. there were some meetings of Alyaksandr Lukashenka and Vladimir Putin. The Russian leader pressed for ‘further integration’ while his Belarusian counterpart insisted on reducing gas prices and getting compensation for the tax maneuver. The talks seem to have ended in deadlock.
СК, belsat.eu
