Russia plans closer cooperation with Belarus

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Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Monday he would seek closer cooperation with Belarus after authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko won - as expected - presidential elections on the weekend.

Lukashenko's seventh term in office was a foregone conclusion, given the lack of realistic rivals and his crackdown on the opposition.

Putin nevertheless described it as a "convincing victory" in his congratulatory telegram.

Putin wrote that he wanted to expand Russian-Belarusian cooperation and drive forward the integration processes in the Eurasian region. "You are always a welcome guest on Russian soil," he wrote.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov dismissed Western criticism of the elections, saying that Russia was unconcerned by it.

"We see it as an absolutely legitimate, well organized and transparent election with a more than convincing victory for the incumbent head of state," he said, according to a report by the state-run TASS news agency.

Lukashenko, 70, has led Belarus as a dictator for more than 30 years. He has tied his rule ever more closely to Russia - especially since he almost lost power in mass protests in 2020.

The electoral administration in Minsk credited Lukashenko with 86.82% of the vote in the stage-managed poll, his highest ever total. He will travel to Russia in the first foreign trip of his seventh term.