MOSCOW, August 19. /ITAR-TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko discussed by phone on Tuesday the preparation of a meeting between the leaders of the Customs Union and Ukraine and EU officials, the Kremlin press service said.

Putin told Lukashenko about the movement of the humanitarian convoy for south-eastern Ukraine and the problems it is facing on the way, the Kremlin said.

Earlier in the day, Lukashenko had a telephone conversation with his Ukrainian counterpart Petro Poroshenko to discuss a wide range of bilateral issues with a focus on the situation in Ukraine.

They “paid serious attention to the situation in Ukraine”, the Belarusian president’s press service said.

After recent consultations, the leaders of the Customs Union states and Ukraine agreed to gather in Minsk on August 26 to discuss the humanitarian catastrophe in eastern Ukraine. The meeting will be also attended by EU officials.