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.