Presidents Putin and Lukashenko have met in St. Petersburg for the first round of talks, discussing the stalled Ukrainian counteroffensive, the transfer of Polish troops to the border of the Russian-Belarusian Union State, other matters concerning security and international affairs, economic cooperation and the means to combat Western sanctions pressure.
Russia and Belarus are close allies in the Collective Security Treaty Organization, and economic partners in the Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union.
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