Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko is scheduled to hold talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday, Aug. 29, to discuss bilateral cooperation, security matters, and pressing international issues, The Moscow Times reported.
Lukashenko arrived in Russia on Thursday, Aug. 27, for a working visit. On Friday, he met with Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin at the Government House in Moscow to discuss trade, investment, and industrial integration.
During the meeting, Lukashenko stated that Belarus is “fulfilling and even overfulfilling” its obligations to Russia regarding the supply of goods, including fuel and foodstuffs.
He also noted that the two countries need to resolve a “common problem” on their respective southern and western borders.
The meetings in Moscow follow Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov’s working visit to Minsk on Tuesday, Aug. 25.
Manturov met with Lukashenko and Belarusian Prime Minister Alexander Turchin to discuss economic cooperation, import substitution, and joint projects in the aviation and military-industrial sectors. During that visit, Lukashenko awarded Manturov the Order of Friendship of Peoples.
CIA visit, classified decrees, and military buildup
Lukashenko’s visit to Russia and the preceding diplomatic meetings occur against a backdrop of heightened regional military tension and secretive diplomatic maneuvering.
On Aug. 25, the same day Manturov visited Minsk, US CIA Director John Ratcliffe made a secretive and unannounced visit to Moscow. According to multiple reports, Washington requested that Ukraine temporarily halt drone strikes on Moscow and St. Petersburg for the duration of Ratcliffe’s visit.
While neither Washington nor Moscow has disclosed the exact nature of the talks, independent media outlets reported that Ratcliffe met with Russian intelligence officials.
The visit was intended to warn the Kremlin against potential provocations targeting NATO members, while other reports suggested discussions may have involved prisoner exchanges or the war with Iran.
Coinciding with Ratcliffe’s visit on Aug. 25, Putin signed three classified decrees – Nos. 605, 606, and 607. The contents of the decrees were not published on the official legal information portal, leading to widespread speculation regarding their relation to security measures or potential mobilization efforts. The preceding decree, No. 604, allowed the state to take temporary control of private enterprises that fail to adequately protect their facilities from drone attacks.
Following the CIA director’s visit, Lukashenko unexpectedly ordered a snap combat readiness inspection of the Belarusian military on Wednesday, Aug. 26.
Belarusian Security Council Secretary Alexander Volfovich stated that the inspection would involve deploying a brigade to carry out combat tasks and explicitly linked the drill to Ratcliffe’s presence in Moscow.
Concurrently, independent monitoring groups reported that Belarus is constructing a new military training ground and a dedicated railway terminus near the village of Yakimovka in the Gomel region, approximately 40 kilometers from the Ukrainian border.
Project documentation obtained by the Belarusian Railway Workers’ Community indicates the siding is designed to accommodate up to 60 railcars and features ramps for the rapid unloading of heavy wheeled and tracked military vehicles directly from trains.