PREVIEW - Putin, Lukashenko To Meet In Sochi On Monday To Discuss Moscow-Minsk Strategic Partnership

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 22nd February, 2021) Russian President Vladimir Putin will hold a meeting with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko in the Russian resort city of Sochi on Monday to discuss key issues related to the bilateral strategic partnership and alliance.

The meeting will be held as part of the Belarusian leader's working visit to Russia, which also includes talks with other Russian officials.

The talks are expected to concentrate on major bilateral projects in trade, the economy and the cultural sphere, as well as further integration within the Union State.

Among other issues, the leaders will discuss the joint response of the two countries to challenges, including in the field of military security, as well as key issues of international agenda.

The previous meeting of the two leaders also took place in Sochi last September.

During the talks, the sides discussed a broad range of issues on the bilateral and regional agenda, including the ongoing post-election protests in Belarus and Russia's stance on the matter. In particular, the Russian leader expressed support for Lukashenko's initiative to carry out constitutional reform. Putin also confirmed that Moscow would lend Minsk $1.5 billion to help the country cope with the prolonged crisis.

Mass protests in Belarus have been ongoing for over a month now. People took to the streets in Minsk and other big cities after the opposition denounced the official presidential election results ” according to which, Lukashenko collected over 80 percent of the vote ” and claimed instead that Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, an opposition candidate, won the election.