Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko gathered for talks on Friday, according to the Kremlin, with the war in Ukraine expected to dominate the agenda.
The two leaders convened at Putin’s Valdai residence in northwestern Russia, where they covered topics including trade and economic cooperation, joint projects, and regional security concerns.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov had told state news agency TASS ahead of the meeting that no press statements or document signings were planned once the talks concluded.
The meeting comes as tensions between Belarus and Ukraine have been escalating. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said he believes Putin is pressuring Lukashenko to increase his country’s involvement in the conflict on Russia’s side.
Both Moscow and Minsk have rejected that characterization, with Belarus instead pointing the finger at Ukraine and Western nations for stoking tensions. Lukashenko said on Thursday that he had met with representatives of Zelenskiy and cautioned them against attempting to pull Belarus into the war.
Putin and Lukashenko are considered close political allies and meet on a regular basis. The Kremlin accused Ukraine of threatening Belarusian sovereignty after Zelenskiy, the previous Friday, gave Minsk one week to shut down signal relay stations he claimed were being used to help direct Russian military strikes.
The Kremlin had signaled on Monday that the two leaders were expected to address Zelenskiy’s comments “in the foreseeable future.”
By Wednesday, Zelenskiy announced that the relay stations had gone offline, though no independent sources were able to verify that claim.
While Lukashenko has stopped short of sending Belarusian soldiers to fight alongside Russian forces, he did allow Putin to use Belarusian territory as a staging ground for the initial assault on Ukraine in February 2022. He later agreed to host Russian tactical nuclear missiles on Belarusian soil.
