Belarus leader proposes three-way cooperation with Russia’s Putin and North Korea’s Kim

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin has hosted a meeting with his Belarusian ally, who referred to this week’s summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and suggested that Minsk could join Moscow’s efforts to revive an old alliance with Pyongyang. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko made the proposal as he met with Putin in the Black Sea resort of Sochi. The Russian leader said he would brief Lukashenko the talks with Kim on Wednesday at the Vostochny spaceport in Russia’s Far East. Lukashenko responded by saying that “we could think about three-way cooperation” involving his country. Putin’s meeting with Lukashenko was their seventh this year.