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09 September 2021, 09:08

What to expect from Lukashenko-Putin talks? Kremlin gearing up for Belarus president's visit

MINSK, 9 September (BelTA) – Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko is set to pay a working visit to Russia on 9 September. Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko and Russian President Vladimir Putin are expected to hold talks in the Kremlin, BelTA has learned.

The meeting of the two leaders was announced more than a week ago. The date was agreed during a telephone conversation on 30 August. It was reported that Aleksandr Lukashenko and Vladimir Putin would once again discuss 28 Union State programs, prepared by the governments of the two countries, as well as other topical issues of the bilateral agenda and international affairs.

One of the topics will be the situation in Afghanistan, especially in connection with the upcoming summits of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Dushanbe in mid-September. Earlier, Aleksandr Lukashenko suggested working out a consolidated position of these two integration associations on Afghanistan.

It is possible that Aleksandr Lukashenko and Vladimir Putin will touch upon the upcoming large-scale Belarusian-Russian exercise Zapad 2021, military and technical cooperation in general. There is also much to discuss in terms of countering the sanctions policy of the collective West, transport sector, and the fight against the spread of the coronavirus.

The issue to top the agenda of the upcoming meeting between the two presidents will be 28 Union State programs, prepared by the governments of the two countries to deepen economic integration as part of a number of provisions of the Union State Treaty of 1999. Work on these documents, which were called road maps (initially there were 31 of them), has been on for almost three years.

Plans are in place to sign the programs at the presidential level at the Supreme State Council of the Union State. Its meeting is scheduled in October or November. If Aleksandr Lukashenko and Vladimir Putin reach final agreements on the matter on 9 September, the relevant program documents can be signed at the governmental level the next day. Minsk is due to host a meeting of the Union State Council of Ministers on 10 September.

According to Belarusian Prime Minister Roman Golovchenko, integration documents will define the interaction between Belarus and Russia up to 2027. The PM spoke about it during an interview to the Belarus 1 TV channel in August. “I think that citizens of both Belarus and Russia will soon learn in full what we have managed to accomplish and what we have agreed upon over the past year and a half. Important strategic documents have been prepared that will let us build relationships within at least the next few years - until 2024-2025, and for some programs even through 2027,” said Roman Golovchenko.

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