Kremlin speaks out on Trump's national security advisor's trip to Minsk

The Kremlin is not worried about Minsk developing on more or less close cooperation with Washington, according to the comment made by Putin's press secretary Dmitry Peskov on the upcoming visit by Trump's national security advisor John Bolton to Minsk later this week. 

"It is premature to talk about close cooperation between Belarus and the United States,"  Russian news agency TASS quotes Peskov as saying. He stressed that the US high-ranking official was coming with a working visit, and it was not a full-fledged official contact. 

Peskov added that the development of the Union State of Belarus and Russia was continuing. “We are close allies and partners in the Eurasian Economic Community. Our partnership and alliance continues and will develop further, without a doubt,” he noted. 

When asked by reporters if Belarus buying American oil would confront Russia's interests in the region, Peskov said: "This is a sovereign affair of Belarus." 

John Bolton is expected in Minsk this week. Unofficial reports suggest he will meet with Belarusian President Aliaksandr Lukashenka.