Commander-in-Chief of the Burmese army, Sen. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, met Russian military officers at the Moscow airport yesterday, where they discussed technical cooperation, according to the Facebook page of Burma’s Defence Ministry.
The Facebook post said that Burma’s military chief and his team were on their way to Belarus when they met with Russian military officials—including Alexandra Vasillievich Fomin, the joint chairman of Russia-Burma Military Technological Cooperation—at the Moscow airport. During the meeting they talked about increasing technical cooperation between the Burmese and Russian militaries.
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Burmese state-owned media mentioned that Min Aung Hlaing was visiting Belarus after receiving an invitation from the prime minister to discuss issues of shared interest and to learn about Belarusian culture.
Belarus announced independence in 1991 after separating from the Soviet Union and initiated diplomatic relations with Burma in 1999.
Burma and Belarus have been listed as amongst the most repressive countries in the world in annual reports compiled by human rights watchdogs such as Freedom House, which have criticized the two counties for their lack of basic freedoms—particularly freedom of the press.