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Russian, Belarusian top diplomats discuss situation around Ukraine, Western sanctions

Sergey Lavrov and Sergey Aleinik also discussed upcoming foreign policy events, including preparations for a joint board meeting of the Russian and Belarusian foreign ministries

© Vladimir Gerdo/TASS

MOSCOW, December 19. /TASS/. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his Belarusian counterpart Sergey Aleinik discussed the Ukrainian crisis and ways to resist the West’s illegal sanctions pressure at a meeting on Monday, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

"The parties exchanged views on international and regional issues, including the situation around the Ukrainian crisis. They reaffirmed their determination to coordinate steps on international platforms and efforts to resist the political and illegal sanctions pressure that Russia and Belarus have been facing from unfriendly countries," the statement reads.

According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, the parties also discussed pressing bilateral issues, interaction within the Union State and other Eurasian organizations. "Special attention was paid to ensuring diplomatic support for the implementation of Union State programs concerning the economic integration of the two countries, cooperation within the CIS [Commonwealth of Independent States], Russia’s upcoming chairmanship of the EAEU [Eurasian Economic Union] and Belarus’s chairmanship of the CSTO [Collective Security Treaty Organization]," the statement added.

The ministers also discussed upcoming foreign policy events, including preparations for a joint board meeting of the Russian and Belarusian foreign ministries.

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Foreign policy Sergey Lavrov Belarus

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