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| - Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko vowed on Friday to resolve his country's political crisis "in the coming days" and accused the United States of "directing" anti-government protesters. Speaking to workers in the Dzerzhinsk region south of the capital Minsk, Lukashenko said the protests "should not worry you". "This is my problem, which I must resolve and which we are resolving. And believe me, in the coming days it will be resolved," he said, according to state news agency Belta. He repeated a claim that protesters were being paid and accused the United States of organising demonstrations in order to create a buffer zone with his country, the three Baltic states and Ukraine between Russia. "The United States is planning and directing all of this, and the Europeans are playing the game. A special centre was created in Warsaw," he said. Lukashenko is facing the biggest challenge to his 26-year rule after thousands of protesters took to the streets to denounce his claim to have won a sixth term in an August 9 presidential election. The opposition insists the vote was rigged and has called for Lukashenko to step down, but security forces have cracked down with thousands of arrests. Police have also launched a criminal probe into a Coordination Council formed by the opposition to oversee a peaceful handover of power. Lukashenko suggested he would not hold any talks with the opposition. "Look, I am talking with you. And I will talk only with workers' groups," he said. bur-tbm/mm/txw
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