Putin arrives in Belarus for the first time since 2019. Shoigu also comes

President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko personally met his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin at the airport in Minsk. Lukashenko's son Nikolai also came to welcome Putin to Minsk.

Women dressed in national clothes gave Putin a warm bread-and-salt welcome. Putin and Lukashenko then got into one Aurus vehicle and departed to the Palace of Independence.

It was earlier reported that Putin arrived in Belarus for the first time since July 2019. It was said that Putin and Lukashenko would discuss regional security and a collective response to threats.

It is worthy of one than Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu arrived in the Belarusian capital too to take part in the talks as well.

Vladimir Putin held talks with Alexander Lukashenko in Minsk. The meeting went on for about three hours.

Key theses from Vladimir Putin's statements:

• The Russian Federation and Belarus agreed to engage in the creation of new military equipment;
• Russia and Belarus are building the Union State together. Together we oppose sectional pressure, attempts to isolate the Russian Federation and Belarus from global markets;
• by the end of the year, the trade turnover will reach 40 billion. The Russian Federation is the largest investor in the economy of Belarus;
• it is planned to complete the construction of the second unit of the nuclear power plant in Belarus;

Key theses from Alexander Lukashenko's statements:

• instructions were given to governments of the Russian Federation and Belarus to finalize the program for the creation of the joint gas market;
• "in fact, the future of the Belarusian and Russian peoples is being determined now";
• Today in Belarus, S-400 and Iskander complexes, which Russia supplied, were put on combat duty.