Putin Sees Recent Meeting With Lukashenko As Constructive, Frank - Kremlin

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 24th February, 2021) Russian President Vladimir Putin sees his recent meeting with Belarusian counterpart, Alexander Lukashenko, as constructive, frank and timely, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday.

"The meeting was very useful, very timely, constructive and frank ... The president assesses the results of the meeting as positive," Peskov said at a briefing, commenting on the recent talks in Sochi.

According to the Kremlin spokesman, Putin and Lukashenko focused on "expanding and improving" the bilateral economic cooperation.

"We did have a certain pandemic-related decline, both in trade and in terms of the economy, so we need to make energetic effort to compensate for the decline and enable growth of all the key factors.

The presidents pointed to the need to boost [cooperation of] economic agencies and prioritize cooperation in the tax sphere," Peskov continued.

Russian and Belarusian prime ministers and tax agencies will hold consultations soon, Peskov went on to say. Apart from that, Putin and Lukashenko discussed coordination between defense ministries and security agencies, with talks expected to take place in the near future as well.

"Investment cooperation always remains on the agenda, as this is an integral part of the Union State and our trade and economic relations," Peskov continued, when asked if the two leaders touched upon the potential sale of Belarusian assets to Russian companies.