Putin hosts leader of Belarus for talks on closer ties

The authoritarian leader of Belarus has visited St. Petersburg for talks with President Vladimir Putin

MOSCOW -- The authoritarian leader of Belarus visited Russia on Tuesday for talks with President Vladimir Putin as soaring tensions with the West have boosted his reliance on Moscow’s support. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko thanked Putin for the “very serious support" Belarus has received from Russia and pledged that the country would duly repay its loans. Putin, in turn, praised Belarus as a “reliable and stable partner.” The Belarusian economy, which suffered from the coronavirus pandemic, received a new blow when the European Union imposed bruising sanctions against some of its top exports over Belarus' May 23 diversion of an airliner and the arrest of an opposition journalist who was a passenger.