Vladimir Putin receives new Russian ambassador to Belarus

Russian President Vladimir Putin met new Russian Ambassador to Belarus Alexander Blokhin on Tuesday.

After that, the diplomat said that his main task was to develop overall Russian-Belarussian relations. According to him, Belarus is "Russia's first priority in the former USSR" and "there is no alternative to Russia-Belarus rapprochement".

The Russian Embassy to Belarus "shall take all efforts to maintain brotherly relations between the Russian and Belarussian nations". Not only the presidents, but also people of the two countries are striving to that, Blokhin stressed.

According to Blokhin, the meeting with the President focused on the development of bilateral economic cooperation and rapprochement between the Russian and Belarussian economies.