Russia, Belarus Have Similar Stances on Ukraine, Syria - Putin

Moscow and Minsk share a similar stance on the resolution of crises in Syria and Ukraine, the Russian president said.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Russia and Belarus have similar stances on Ukraine crisis settlement and the fight against terrorism in Syria, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday.

"On the international arena, Russia and Belarus carry out a coordinated foreign policy," Putin said following a meeting with his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko.

According to the Russian leader, the sides noted during the meeting "the closeness of our stances on topical issues such as the settlement of the Ukraine crisis and the fight against international terrorism in Syria."

A summit of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) will be held December 21, Putin announced.

"With the CSTO summit coming up on December 21, we focused on issues regarding the security and stability of our organization's external borders, our joint fight against terrorism."

The CSTO is an intergovernmental military alliance formed in 1992 at present comprising Russia, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Armenia and Belarus. Its key objective is to fight against "international terrorism and other nontraditional threats to security," according to its website.

"In order to strengthen regional stability and security we agreed to actively develop military and military-technical cooperation," Putin added.