on the territory of the spasopreobrazhensky valaam monastery, the heads of state visited the smolinsky icon of the mother of god. this is not the first time that heads of state have visited local orthodox shrines together. twice already these places with a special atmosphere have become a platform for negotiations. the first time alexander lukashenko and vladimir putin visited valaam together was in july 2019, so it can be said to be a tradition. and even though the leaders look quite informal, they don’t wear ties, it’s known what’s on the president’s agenda. and this kind of meeting, in general, it must be said that the presidents of the two countries communicate regularly, perhaps these are the most regular meetings in the modern practice of political relations, international relations, which is not accidental, this demonstrates the nature of the trusting relationship, the level of mutual interest of the two countries, the level of integration in which our countries are located, of course, and even russia and china, these are our traditional partners, so to speak, this is our anchor