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'Wrinkles' in Moscow-Minsk relations do not spoil general background, Kremlin says

According to the Kremlin, "very specific issues are being discussed, the Russian and Belarussian governments have accomplished titanic work... for moving towards the integration of the two countries"

© Natalia Fedosenko/TASS

MOSCOW, December 25. /TASS/. The remaining unsettled issues concerning the integration of Russia and Belarus are by no means evidence of a crisis situation, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said. He disagreed with Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko in that the two countries were at a crossroads.

"The talks that were conducted in Sochi a month ago [between the Russian and Belarussian presidents] and several days ago in St. Petersburg point in the opposite direction, we believe," Peskov told the media on Wednesday about Lukashenko’s remarks concerning problems in bilateral relations.

Peskov said "very specific issues are being discussed, the Russian and Belarussian governments have accomplished titanic work to coordinate a package of roadmaps for moving towards the integration of the two countries and strengthening the Union State."

"It was a truly titanic job," Peskov said.

"There still remain unsettled issues [of integration], which by no means show that we are in some sort of crisis," he stated. "It is clear that there will be more contacts. It is clear that the level of integration is very high and the bonds connecting the two countries are very tight. Although some wrinkles may inevitably remain, they will by no means spoil the general background.".

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Belarus Dmitry Peskov

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