This is Lukashenko’s first foreign visit since the August 9 presidential election, the falsification of which provoked unprecedented mass protests in Belarus.
Deeper integration of Belarus and Russia within the “united state” is on the agenda, the Kremlin said in a statement, adding that other issues, such as energy, trade and cultural projects, will be discussed.
Prior to the election, Lukashenko accused Moscow of exerting economic pressure to “devour” Belarus, but now he is trying at all costs to gain Putin’s support to suppress protests and restore stability to his regime.
Although Putin was one of the few world leaders to congratulate Lukashenko on his apparent victory in the presidential election, he acknowledged that it was not “perfect.”
While Lukashenko was preparing to visit the Kremlin’s host, 150,000 people took to the streets of Minsk again on Sunday, demanding his resignation and fair elections.
The Interior Ministry said 774 people had been detained during Sunday’s protests.
Protests against the falsification of election results in Belarus have been going on for five weeks.
According to official results, Lukashenko, who has been in power since 1994, won 80.1% of the vote, while opposition candidate Svetlana Tikhanovska won only 10.1%.
However, the opposition has stated that the results are falsified on the basis of evidence of unprecedented violations. The European Union (EU) and other Western countries have also refused to recognize the election results.
Violence against demonstrators, both by the regime and by force, has also provoked outrage in Belarus and beyond.
The UN has received 450 reports of beatings and torture of detained protesters, and the UN Human Rights Council is scheduled to hold a special debate on the issue on Friday.
