Moscow - Russian President Dimitry Medvedev met outside Moscow on Saturday with his Belarus counterpart, Alexander Lukashenko, for talks focusing on the financial crisis.

A spokeswoman for Medvedev said the two leaders discussed the world financial crisis, with the talks coming a few days after Russia promised a loan of 2 billion dollars to Belarus.

Belarus needs the financial support in order to be able to finance purchases of Russian gas in the coming winter months.

In another development in Minsk, Lukashenko's chancellery office has welcomed a move by the European Union to lift for six months a temporary travel ban which the EU had imposed on Lukashenko and other members of the Belarus government.

According to a report by Interfax, the office called the decision - made by EU foreign ministers a few days ago - a positive step. Minsk regarded the EU travel ban as a gross violation of human and civil rights.

The EU had frozen its relations with Minsk in 2004 in expressing Brussels' criticism of the political situation in Belarus under the authoritarian rule of Lukashenko.

In August, Minsk released a number of political prisoners, a move interpreted by the EU as a step towards opening up to the West.

Lukashenko's office also said that the parliamentary elections in late September had shown that Belarus had an open and democratic character.

Western election observers had criticised the elections. dpa