MOSCOW, October 9. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko continued their communication after the ceremony of awarding the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called to the Belarusian leader, but the leaders' talks have already ended, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov reported.

"Yes. It continued. Now [communication] has already ended," he said when asked whether Putin and Lukashenko continued to communicate after the solemn ceremony of awarding Russia's highest state award.

The two heads of state communicated for several hours. In particular, they held bilateral talks in the Kremlin and discussed topical issues of further development of Russian-Belarusian relations of strategic cooperation and alliance with a focus on integration cooperation within the Union State. After the meeting, Putin presented his counterpart with the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called at a solemn ceremony. The Russian leader signed a decree on awarding Lukashenko on August 30, the day of the 70th anniversary of the Belarusian president. Lukashenko spent a total of three days in Moscow this time, taking part in an informal meeting of CIS leaders on October 7 and the CIS Council of Heads of State on October 8.