Russian President Vladimir Putin has praised the reliability of Belarusian equipment for machine tools, TASS reports. This matter was discussed during Vladimir Putin’s meeting with Head of the Republic of Bashkortostan Radiy Khabirov. The head of the region mentioned that they have plans to create a machine tool cluster in the republic. Some arrangements have already been made and design work is getting started. “Around the first half of 2026, we will cast frames for the machines that we are now buying in Belarus,” Radiy Khabirov said. Vladimir Putin, in turn, noted that Russian enterprises do not have to replace these tools with domestically produced ones. “You can also buy them in Belarus, they are reliable,” the Russian president responded.