Mr Putin and Mr Lukashenko exchanged opinions on current aspects of bilateral cooperation and decided to appoint Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov as Prime Minister of the Russia-Belarus Union State.
President Putin and President Lukashenko then discussed preparations for the next meeting of the Union State’s Parliamentary Assembly, which is scheduled to take place in Minsk on March 16–17 and will be attended by a State Duma delegation from Russia, led by Duma Speaker Boris Gryzlov.