As Vladimir Putin set foot on the soil of Brest, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko was negotiating the supply of Venezuelan oil with Hugo Chavez in Caracas. The Russian prime minister's press service denied rumours that Lukashenko had simply "fled" in order not to discuss the sensitive issue of Russian energy supplies. Putin arrived in Brest rather than Minsk for scheduled meetings with the Belarusian number two, Sergey Sidorsky.
Putin's visit began at the Kozlovichi-2 customs office, which sits on one of the key highways linking Moscow with Paris, Berlin, and Warsaw. It has state-of-the-art equipment, jointly purchased by the Union State of Russia and Belarus, that can detect narcotics and other banned substances passing over the border. Illegal immigrants are also detained. The customs officers keep a collection of fake passports including an ID of Mr Kilobo, a citizen of Ichkeria with Basayev's stamp on it. The collection also includes the passport of one "Bobby Hughs", citizen of the non-existent state of British Honduras.
When he came outdoors, the prime minister approached two customs officers, smiled, and stroked their trained dogs: Putin's favourite dog Connie is also a Labrador.
Vladimir Putin then went into a meeting with his Belarusian counterpart Sergey Sidorsky and began by saying that the two nations had made great progress along the road of mutual integration.
"But it is no secret that many agreements have so far remained only on paper," Mr Putin said.
Even so, the prime ministers came to the conclusion that the joint anti-crisis measures the two countries took last year have been a success, as witnessed by the growing trade in recent months. Mutual trade increased by 17% in January alone.
The two men also discussed energy and social and cultural cooperation. After the meeting of the Union State's Council of Ministers, Vladimir Putin and Sergey Sidorsky laid flowers at the Brest Fortress Memorial.
By Nigina Beroyeva