Yeltsin to lobby for Belarus in Europe

President Yeltsin has promised to press European countries not to isolate Belarus.

He was speaking after talks in the Kremlin with the leader of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, whose authoritarian rule has attracted strong criticism in Europe.

A year ago the Council of Europe suspended Belarus's guest status on the grounds that it was not respecting minimum democratic standards.

President Yeltsin said the shadow over his relations with Mr Lukashenko -- caused by the arrest of several Russian television journalists -- had now been lifted.

The two leaders agreed to accelerate the implementation of the proposed political union between their countries.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service