Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin have discussed the current agenda and the development of Belarusian-Russian relations, the Belarusian leader’s press service reported on Friday following telephone conversation between the two heads of state.
"The heads of state disused the current agenda and the development of bilateral relations, including work on the implementation of the agreements reached during their previous personal meetings," the press service said. "The two presidents also exchanged views on global issues."
Belarus and Russia are currently in talks on pressing issues related to Belarusian-Russian cooperation. In December 2018, the Russian and Belarusian presidents agreed to set up an intergovernmental working group on the development of integration. Moscow and Minsk are expected to agree on all integration roadmaps by November. In July, the two presidents took part in the forum of Russian and Belarusian regions in St. Petersburg. At their bilateral meeting, they exchanged views on integration, put forward some new initiatives and tasked their governments with working on them.
On August 23, Belarusian Prime Minister Sergei Rumas said that Minsk and Moscow could initiate the program of action for integration within the Union State in September. The Belarusian government is expected to submit the draft program to deepen integration with Russia to Lukashenko for approval in the coming days.