Lukashenka, Putin to continue integration talks on Friday

On December 7, the presidents of Belarus and Russia spent five hours negotiating behind closed doors. But neither Putin nor Lukashenka revealed what they were talking about. Instead, Russian Economic Development Minister Maksim Oreshkin briefly informed the public on the situation.

“[The sides] effectively worked in a number of fields: agriculture, communications, customs, oil market regulation. They have made significant progress even in the issue of oil and gas, the parties’ positions have got closer indeed,” he stressed.

Although the two leaders were expected to sign the agreement on Belarus-Russia deeper integration on December 8, the next round of the talks was set for December, 20. Moreover, there was not a single word about the reasons for not signing the roadmaps on December 8, on the 20th anniversary of the the so-called union state treaty.

Experts are divided over the outcome of the meeting; for example, Belarusian political analyst Alyaksandr Klaskouski believes that Moscow will manage to force Minsk down to the ground. However, some are of the view that the Russian side suffered a setback.