Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday visited Minsk for the first time since 2019 to meet with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, and the two leaders agreed to strengthen military and economic cooperation.
Putin said that Moscow and Minsk would continue their joint military drills, which increased since October when Russia deployed a force of about 9,000 troops to Belarus to help secure the country’s border. “Joint military planning is ongoing, within the framework of implementing the common military doctrine of Russia and Belarus,” Putin said.