Vladimir Putin arrives in Minsk

Vladimir Putin arrived in Minsk on a two-day visit at the invitation of President of the Republic of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko. During the talks, the two leaders plan to discuss issues essential for the further development of strategic partnership and alliance between Russia and Belarus, progress on integration within the Union State and prospects for further cooperation, as well as key issues on the international agenda.

Vladimir Putin and Alexander Lukashenko had a brief conversation at the Minsk airport. The main events are scheduled for May 24.

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President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko: Mr Putin, thank you. I was just thinking on my way here: we never have time to start talks during the day and always talk until well into the night. It has already become a tradition.

President of Russia Vladimir Putin: That is for sure.

Alexander Lukashenko: But I do not think it is going to be a problem. You have had a hard day; you had difficult talks with the King of Bahrain. That certainly was not easy.

Vladimir Putin: Not at all. They were enjoyable.

Alexander Lukashenko: Good, it means we have more friends now.

Welcome to Belarus. You are at home here.

Vladimir Putin: Thank you.

Alexander Lukashenko: The Belarusian people will be very happy to know that you are visiting. This is one of your first visits after the election, after your visit to the People's Republic of China. You are visiting your friends. We will also discuss our ties in the context of relations with China.

Vladimir Putin: The President [of China] spoke highly of you.

Alexander Lukashenko: I think Xi Jinping will be happy that we are discussing these issues.

I have a very interesting proposal for our region and for the larger region, including the Caucasus. We discussed this in-depth during my recent visit to Azerbaijan. I think that, as usual, we will bring security issues to the forefront, and will discuss economic matters tomorrow when our colleagues from the governments join us.

Vladimir Putin: Thank you very much.

It is good I had the opportunity to arrive in the evening, so that we could have an informal conversation.

After the talks with our Arab friends, I had a big meeting with members of the Government, and we talked about my plans to meet with you. We went through every aspect, including industrial cooperation, energy, agriculture, and security. About half of the Government members attended. Some of them will also come and participate in the talks tomorrow. Those who will not be here asked me to convey their greetings and best wishes to you, and wished prosperity to Belarus. Our colleagues have achieved a great deal recently, with your direct involvement and support.

We will discuss all of this today and tomorrow, including security issues, which is something you always emphasise. There is much we need to discuss here. Everything is stable and progressing well. We will certainly need to discuss joint military exercises, the second phase of the exercise, which will include our Belarusian friends and military colleagues.

Overall, we have a packed agenda. I am glad I could fly in tonight - we will be able to use this informal time to talk about all these issues.

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