MOSCOW, November 19./TASS/. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will visit Minsk on November 25-26, where he will meet with President Alexander Lukashenko and Belarusian counterpart Vladimir Makei, Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told a briefing on Thursday.
"On November 25-26, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will pay a working visit to Minsk to take part in a joint session of the boards of the Russian and Belarusian foreign ministries," the diplomat said. The program includes talks with the Belarusian president and the foreign minister, she added.
The sides plan to discuss the situation in Belarus and key issues on the bilateral and international agenda. The joint session of the ministries’ boards on November 26 "will look into the implementation of the program of coordinated action in the foreign policy of the Union State for 2020-2021, including coordination of activity in international organizations, in the Eurasian Economic Union, the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) and the Commonwealth of Independent States," the diplomat pointed out.
Besides, the talks will focus on relations with the European Union, the possibility of CSTO’s participation in United Nations’ peacekeeping operations, prospects of shaping the Greater Eurasian Partnership through pairing integration processes, as well as cooperation on the track of information security.
The sides plan the signing of joint documents, including a plan of consultations between the foreign ministries for 2021, Zakharova said.
Belarus held a presidential election on August 9. According to the Central Election Commission, Alexander Lukashenko emerged the winner with a considerable advantage. The runner-up, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, refused to recognize the results. As soon as the election returns were disclosed, mass protest demonstrations began in the country. In the first days there were clashes with police. The demonstrations have continued up to this day.