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Crisis in Belarus

Russian Prime Minister arrives in Minsk

Over the recent weeks, the prime minister several times had phone conversations with his Belarusian counterpart, the last time being August 27

Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin Ramil Sitdikov/POOL/TASS

Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin

© Ramil Sitdikov/POOL/TASS

MINSK, September 3. /TASS/. Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin arrived in Belarus on a visit on Thursday.

In the Belarusian capital the Russian Prime Minister is accompanied by a sizeable government delegation, including, for instance, Deputy Prime Ministers Dmitry Chernyshenko and Alexey Overchuk, Energy Minister Alexander Novak, Industry and Trade Minister Denis Manturov, Culture Minister Olga Lyubimova, Sports Minister Oleg Matytsin, and Healthcare Minister Mikhail Murashko. The Minsk visit of the head of the Russian government precedes the top-level talks which should occur within the framework of the visit to Russia of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko scheduled during the next two weeks.

Over the recent weeks, the prime minister several times had phone conversations with his Belarusian counterpart Roman Golovchenko, the last time being August 27. As the press service of the Cabinet of Ministers reported, the prime ministers discussed pressing issues of trade and economic cooperation and strengthening of interaction in the format of the Union State. Earlier they had phone conversations on August 19 and 20. Even earlier, on August 10, the day after the election in Belarus, the Russian prime minister in a conversation with the Belarusian prime minister asked to congratulate President Lukashenko on his victory at the presidential election and stressed the importance of further mutual cooperation.

The prime minister visited Minsk last on July 17 in order to participate in a session of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council. Then he also had a meeting with Lukashenko.

One of the pressing economic issues in the interaction of the two countries is the issue of refinancing of the Belarusian national debt to Russia. At the end of August, Lukashenko stated that Belarus will conduct negotiations with Russia on refinancing the $1 bln debt. On Tuesday, Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov reported that currently the talks are conducted at the level of Ministries of Finance, working out the credit conditions and volume.

The presidential election in Belarus was held on August 9. According to the final results of the Central Election Committee, the incumbent president of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko got 80.1% of the vote. Svetlana Tikhanovskaya who was considered his main opponent, was second with 10.12%, she refused to recognize the election results. Immediately after exit poll results were announced, mass protest rallies erupted in the country which in the early days were accompanied by clashes between protesters and law enforcement forces. The Coordination Council of the opposition created in the republic is urging to continue the protests. The authorities state the necessity to stop the unauthorized rallies.

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