MOSCOW/MINSK/TVER, June 30. /TASS/: The presidents of Russia and Belarus, Vladimir Putin and Alexander Lukashenko, will attend the ceremony to unveil a monument to Soviet soldiers in the central Russian city of Rzhev.
It will be the Russian leader’s first trip outside the Moscow Region since the start of the pandemic. Putin’s previous domestic visit took place on March 18-19, when he visited Crimea.
According to the Kremlin press service, Putin and Lukashenko will take part in the unveiling ceremony of the Rzhev monument dedicated to Soviet soldiers.
Lukashenko said on June 24 that apart from attending the ceremony, he also planned to discuss bilateral cooperation.
Minsk’s plans
Lukashenko visited Russia on June 24 to attend the Victory Parade in Moscow marking the 75th anniversary of the Soviet Union’s victory in the Great Patriotic War (the Eastern Front during WWII where Russia fought against Nazi Germany). On that day it became known that Putin invited his Belarusian counterpart to attend the unveiling ceremony in Rzhev. Belarusian Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei told reporters last week that a bilateral meeting was expected to take place in the Tver Region on June 30.
On June 25, the Belarusian leader said that he planned to raise the issue of foreign interference in the upcoming Belarusian presidential election at a meeting with his Russian counterpart. In his words, his political opponents, who demand free and fair elections in the country, are resorting to unfair methods themselves and are guided by ‘puppet masters,’ who live in Poland and Russia.
Late last week, the Belarusian leader said he "noticed the Russian leadership’s understanding" of the situation surrounding the high-profile case of Belgazprombank (an affiliate of Russia’s Gazprom and Gazprombank) and the arrest of its former head Viktor Babariko, seen among Lukashenko’s main rivals in the upcoming presidential polls.
During a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, the Belarusian leader said that although certain problems existed in Russian-Belarusian relations, they are "not catastrophic" and can be solved.
Memorial in Rzhev
The monument to Soviet soldiers and officers was created thanks to people’s donations, at the initiative of World War II veterans "who addressed the Union State committee and the research section of the Russian Military Historical Society to commemorate their wartime comrades on the 75th anniversary of the Victory of the Great Patriotic war." It is located near the village of Khoroshevo in the Tver Region. The project was implemented by the Russian Military Historical Society with the assistance of the Union State, the Russian Ministry of Culture and the government of the Tver Region.
After an open international competition for the best architectural and artistic work, a 25-meter-tall bronze figure of a soldier erected on a 10-meter artificial mound won. The project was implemented by the Russian Military Historical Society with the assistance of the Union State, the Russian Ministry of Culture, the government of the Tver Region and the Victory Museum.
Presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky earlier said the monument was completed in April, but the formal ceremony to unveil it was postponed due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.
