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No plans as of now for additional Putin-Lukashenko talks this year — spokesman

According to Belarusian Ambassador to Russia Vladimir Semashko, the parties have not yet coordinated eight out of 31 integration roadmaps
Belarusian and Russian presidents, Alexander Lukashenko and Vladimir Putin Mikhail Klimentyev/Russian Presidential Press and Information Office/TASS
Belarusian and Russian presidents, Alexander Lukashenko and Vladimir Putin
© Mikhail Klimentyev/Russian Presidential Press and Information Office/TASS

MOSCOW, December 10./TASS/. There are no concrete plans at the moment to have an additional meeting of the Russian and Belarusian presidents, Vladimir Putin and Alexander Lukashenko, apart from the talks scheduled for December 20 in St. Petersburg, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists on Tuesday.

"No precise plans at the moment," Peskov said commenting on a statement by the Belarusian president that they could meet with Putin once again this year after December 20.

Peskov reiterated that the two presidents had agreed earlier that work on further integration would continue at the level of the relevant ministries. Besides, the prime ministers of Russia and Belarus may meet if necessary "so that the presidents could meet on December 20 to finalize the issues, work on which had not been completed by the recent meeting in Sochi," he went on to say. "That is why we are focused for the time being on [holding a meeting] on [December] 20 in St. Petersburg," he summed up.

On December 7, Vladimir Putin and Alexander Lukashenko met in Sochi to discuss ways of further integration between Moscow and Minsk. The two leaders agreed to continue their dialogue on the issue on December 20.

The Treaty on the Establishment of the Union State of Russia and Belarus signed by the Russian and Belarusian presidents on December 8, 1999, entered into force on January 26, 2000. Work is currently in progress on a program to deepen the integration of Russia and Belarus.

According to Belarusian Ambassador to Russia Vladimir Semashko, the parties have not yet coordinated eight out of 31 integration roadmaps.

"Maybe we will have to meet with the Russian president once again after [December] 20, to finally dot all the i’s on major issues of the functioning of the two states, and above all — our economies," Lukashenko was quoted by BelTA news agency as saying on Tuesday.