During a meeting with President of Belarus Aleksandr Lukashenko, President of Russia Vladimir Putin said Russian servicemen will return to the places of deployment after the military exercises in Belarus, TASS reports.

Putin recalled that the military exercises planned to be held in 2019 were launched today and will last a few days and added that Russia and Belarus continue their cooperation in the defense sector.

“Russia stays true to its agreements and views Belarus as its close ally,” Putin said.