After a warm greeting at the St. Petersburg airport, Alexander Lukashenko headed north by helicopter. The leaders do not lack communication; Belarusian-Russian negotiations are held regularly. But the allies have always attached special importance to meetings on the island of Valaam. This is not the first time that the heads of state have visited local Orthodox shrines together: these places with a special atmosphere have twice become a platform for negotiations. Although the leaders looked rather informal, the presidents’ agenda includes current issues of the development of Belarusian-Russian relations, promotion of Union State projects, regional security and, of course, the international agenda. The negotiations between the leaders took place mainly in a closed format.