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Putin, Lukashenko to meet in Moscow by mid-September

The date is being discussed, according to the Kremlin spokesman

MOSCOW, August 31. /TASS/. The Russian and Belarusian presidents, Vladimir Putin and Alexander Lukashenko, will meet in Moscow in the coming two weeks, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Monday.

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"The date is being discussed, but the two presidents agreed yesterday that this will happen in the coming weeks. Correspondingly, the meeting will definitely take place in the coming couple of weeks," Peskov said, answering a question about Lukashenko’s visit to Moscow for talks with Putin.

On Sunday, the Kremlin press service reported that Putin and Lukashenko agreed in a phone conversation to hold a meeting in Moscow in the coming weeks. This was the sixth conversation between the presidents lately.

The presidential election in Belarus was held on August 9. According to the Central Election Commission, incumbent President Alexander Lukashenko secured 80.10% of the vote. Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, who was considered as his key rival, came in second with 10.12% of the vote. She refused to recognize the election results and fled to Lithuania. Shortly after the exit poll results were announced, mass protests broke out in the country, which morphed into clashes with law enforcement officers in the first days. The authorities demand the end of illegal rallies, while the Coordination Council set up by the opposition calls to continue protests.

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