Putin, Belarusian leader meet; loan bid reported

Russian President Vladimir Putin hosted his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko for talks on Monday, amid media reports suggesting that the leader of Belarus was coming to Russia to secure another loan.

The Kremlin extended both economical and political support to Lukashenko after his disputed re-election in August triggered the largest and the most sustained wave of mass protests in Belarus’ history. In September, Putin said Moscow would provide a $1.5 billion loan to its ex-soviet neighbor.