MOSCOW, August 30. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated his Belarusian counterpart, Alexander Lukashenko, on his 70th birthday in a telephone conversation on Friday, the Kremlin said.

"During the phone call, Russian President Vladimir Putin heartily congratulated President Alexander Lukashenko of the Republic of Belarus on his 70th anniversary and his receiving the Order of St. Andrew the Apostle the First-Called," the Kremlin said. "The two leaders continued the exchange of opinions on pressing issues regarding further work to develop mutually advantageous bilateral cooperation," the Kremlin added.

Earlier, Putin sent a message of congratulations to Lukashenko and gave the Belarusian leader Russia’s highest state award.

The two leaders often meet and hold telephone conversations. Since 2000, the Belarusian leader has paid 135 visits to Russia, or a record number for a CIS leader. Over the same period, Putin has visited Belarus 27 times. They last met on the island of Valaam in northwestern Russia’s Karelia, including for an informal tete-a-tete meeting.

Lukashenko has been Belarus’ first and permanent president since 1994. Alongside his Tajik counterpart, Emomali Rahmon, he has been the longest serving leader on the post-Soviet space.