Will the meeting between Putin and Lukashenko end the painful problems?

Belarusian President Alexei Lukashenko visited Russia and met with his counterpart Vladimir Putin. Photo: TASS

Unlike Western countries, Russia was the first country to recognize the results of the presidential election in neighboring Belarus as legitimate. President Lukashenko's visit to Russia was carefully prepared in advance, including a visit to the capital Minsk by Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin in early September.

According to President Lukashenko, this meeting with President Putin will put an end to the most sensitive and painful issues for both countries.

The Kremlin said that the talks in Sochi will focus on key issues of promoting the strategic partnership and the Russian-Belarusian alliance. Particular attention will be paid to the implementation of major joint projects in the trade, economic, energy and cultural spheres, as well as the prospects for accelerating the integration process within the Federation. However, according to the press secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov, the signing of the agreement was not planned in advance.

Mr. Peskov added that, given the developments in Belarus, President Lukashenko's visit is considered an important trip, and the contact between the two leaders is becoming more and more special. In addition, the talks between the two presidents will focus on discussing the issue of Russian state refinancing to Belarus.

Belarus's perspective

On the Belarusian side, the complicated developments in the political arena have forced Minsk to seek support from outside, especially from Moscow. President Lukashenko has repeatedly stressed that the scenario of a "color revolution" cannot be allowed to break out in the republic and create a barrier between the two closest allies.

As with any relationship, relations between the allies are not perfect, especially when it comes to energy. Disagreements that arose in 2019 in this area led to Russia cutting off oil supplies to Belarus.

At a recent meeting in Minsk, the parties agreed to resolve the issue of Belarus's energy supply debt and discuss the terms of supply for 2021, as well as the long-term. In addition, the issue of redirecting Belarusian oil supplies from Lithuanian ports to Russian ports is also being considered, amid the worsening of relations between Belarus and Lithuania following the Lithuanian leader's opposition to Lukashenko's election results.

Experts say that difficulties in economic cooperation between Moscow and Minsk still exist: in the first half of 2020, bilateral trade decreased by 21% to $12.5 billion.

Cooperation between the two countries in the fight against Covid-19 is also a hot topic. Russia and Belarus have agreed that Minsk will be one of the first places to receive the Russian vaccine.