Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the Wagner mercenary group, economic cooperation and external threats with his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko for two days, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday, as cited by Reuters.

The mediator in the conflict between the mercenaries led by Yevgeny Prigozhin and the military leadership of Russia, Lukashenko, arrived in St. Petersburg on Sunday for the corresponding dialogue, Agerpres notes.

The two heads of state often meet or speak on the phone after Minsk’s leader allowed Belarus to use the territory as a base for Russian troops attacking Ukraine.

According to Peskov, the presidents did not conclude any new agreement, but “in very close relations (…) they compare their positions, they adjust their clocks.”

The spokesman clarified that the agenda of the discussions includes “the topic of the Wagner group, the topic of trade and economic cooperation, the Union State and external threats on the borders of our countries.”

The structure, called the Union State, is a partnership between Russia and Belarus, in which Moscow is the dominant partner, according to Reuters. Lukashenko proved his usefulness to Putin not only in February 2022, when the Russian invasion of Ukraine began, but also by allowing Russian forces to train at Belarusian military bases and to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus.

The Kremlin acknowledged Lukashenka’s role in ending Wagner’s mercenary rebellion through a deal that allowed Prigozhin to go into hiding in Belarus, where thousands of fighters from his group later arrived. However, their presence in Belarus caused tension in relations with Poland, which responded by strengthening its border troops. Putin warned that any aggression against Belarus would be regarded as an attack on Russia.

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