Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday won a gift for his 70th birthday: a tractor.
As the leaders of several ex-Soviet nations gathered at the Tsarist-era Konstantin Palace in St. Petersburg, President Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus presented Putin with a gift certificate for the vehicle. Tractors have been the pride of Belarusians since Soviet times.
Lukashenko, an autocratic leader who ruled the former Soviet country with an iron fist for nearly three decades while cultivating the symbol of a man of the people, told reporters he had used a style in his garden that he had given Putin.
It is unclear how the Russian leader responded to the gift, which Lukashenko revealed.
Putin did not mention the gift in televised remarks at the start of the assembly when he spoke of the need to talk about tactics to resolve conflicts between ex-Soviet countries.
It also wants to exchange data to fight terrorism, illicit drugs and other crimes.
Leaders of the Commonwealth of Independent States, a loose alliance of ex-Soviet nations, are due to attend next week in Kazakhstan’s capital, Astana.
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