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Minsk - Washington relations will not change with any US elections outcome - Lukashenko

President of Belarus negatively assessed the US presidential elections held on November 3

MINSK, November 7. /TASS/. President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko believes that Belarusian-US relations will not change with any outcome of the US presidential elections.

"I do not expect the situation in our relations to change," BelTA news agency quoted Lukashenko.

At the same time, Lukashenko negatively assessed the US presidential elections held on November 3, the results of which have not yet been determined.

He recalled that Western countries did not recognize the August presidential elections in Belarus as free and fair and called for a repeat vote. Lukashenko believes that the partners and allies of the United States will not put forward similar demands to the United States, despite the fact that the current US president Donald Trump suspects fraudulent vote counting.

On November 3, American citizens headed to the polls to elect 435 representatives to the House, 35 senators out of 100 to the Senate, and the President and Vice President of the United States. The November race for the White House pits Democratic contender Joe Biden and his running mate Kamala Harris against incumbent US President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence of the Republican Party. In addition, voters decided on 13 US state and territorial governorships, and numerous other local elections were held. The winner of the presidential race is still not known. According to estimates, made by major American TV channels, Joe Biden is in the lead. In order to win the US presidential race, a candidate needs 270 out of 538 electoral votes. Trump has filed lawsuits claiming irregularities in the battleground states of Michigan, Pennsylvania and Georgia and has demanded a recount in Wisconsin, which is bound to lead to a contested outcome.

Nationwide demonstrations have engulfed Belarus following the August 9 presidential election. According to the Central Election Commission’s official results, incumbent President Alexander Lukashenko won by a landslide, garnering 80.10% of the vote. His closest rival in the race, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, came in second, with 10.12% of the ballot. However, she refused to recognize the election’s outcome, and left Belarus for Lithuania. After the results of the exit polls were announced late on August 9, mass protests erupted in downtown Minsk and other Belarusian cities. During the early post-election period, the rallies snowballed into fierce clashes between the protesters and police.

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