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Senior US Diplomat Aims to Bridge Differences with Moscow Over Oppposition
Leader Poisoning, Belarus

Charles Maynes

   MOSCOW - The second-most senior U.S. diplomat wrapped up talks with top
   Russian officials in Moscow Wednesday -- capping a two-day visit aimed
   at bridging differences over issues including the ongoing political
   crisis in Belarus and the sudden illness of a leading Russian political
   opposition figure from what appears to be a poisoning.

   The visit by Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun to the Russian
   capital marked an intensifying U.S. effort to find a peaceful solution
   in Belarus, where thousands of demonstrators continue to protest
   results of August 9 presidential elections that longtime Belarusian
   dictator Alexander Lukashenko claims he won in a landslide.

   The U.S. has agreed with protesters in calling into question the
   fairness of the vote count and criticized widespread evidence of the
   beating and torture of detained demonstrators.

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