US Deputy Secretary of State Biegun to visit Russia, Lithuania, Ukraine on Aug 24-27

Stephen E. Biegun will travel to meet with senior government leaders to discuss a range of regional and international issues

WASHINGTON, August 24. /TASS/. US Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun will visit Russia, Lithuania and Ukraine on August 24-27, the US State Department’s press service informed on Sunday.

"Deputy Secretary of State Stephen E. Biegun will travel to Vilnius, Lithuania; Moscow, Russia; Kyiv, Ukraine August 24-27 to meet with senior government leaders to discuss a range of regional and international issues," the message informs.

"Deputy Secretary Biegun will travel to Vienna, Austria August 27 to meet with counterparts at the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to discuss issues related to regional security and human rights," the press service added.

On Saturday, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov informed TASS that Biegun would visit Moscow next week, adding that Russian and US diplomats plan to discuss the situation in Belarus. Besides, Russia plans to exchange opinions on bilateral issues. The Russian Foreign Ministry also informed TASS that a meeting between Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Biegun is in the works.

For its part, Reuters news agency informed, citing former Belarusian presidential candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya’s team, that she plans to meet with Biegun on August 24 in Lithuania.

On August 9, Belarus held its sixth presidential election since declaring independence in 1991. According to the final results of Sunday’s voting, the incumbent president, Alexander Lukashenko, won 80.10% of the vote. His closest rival, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, scored 10.12% of votes.

Mass protests and clashes with police took place in Minsk and other Belarusian cities after exit poll results were made public. Rallies continue to this day.

tass.com