Belarus president visits Russia to secure support amid protests

Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko arrives in Sochi (Andrei Stasevich/BelTA/AP)

Belarus’ authoritarian president has visited Russia in a bid to secure more loans and political support as demonstrations against the extension of his 26-year rule entered a sixth week.

Alexander Lukashenko’s talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Black Sea resort of Sochi come a day after an estimated 150,000 people flooded the streets of the Belarusian capital demanding his resignation.