Events

 
 
 

Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev meets with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko during a working visit to Minsk

 
 
 

“Trade between our countries has reached a record level. It has never been so high,” Dmitry Medvedev said during the meeting. In his words, this is the result of the two nations’ cooperation and integration in the Union State and the Customs Union.

Transcript of the beginning of the meeting:

Alexander Lukashenko: Mr Medvedev, to begin with, I would like to thank you once again for keeping your word, even though you could have forgotten about it.

Dmitry Medvedev: I never forget anything.

Alexander Lukashenko: You promised to come to Belarus on this day, and I am glad to welcome you here.

Dmitry Medvedev: Thank you.

Alexander Lukashenko: There are issues we need to discuss, some of them of strategic importance, considering that the Council of Ministers of the Union State will hold a meeting today. It is very important that you are beginning this new phase in your political life by visiting Belarus and attending this major event. It shows that we have always focused and will continue to focus on integration processes. We will not only pay attention to this core element, the main project of the Union State, but will also work to promote it. We are ready to discuss all of the issues, including the development of the Union State and defence and finance issues, with due account of the unfavourable trends coming from the west and south…

Dmitry Medvedev: From every direction.  

Alexander Lukashenko: Yes, on all fronts. Therefore, we need to coordinate a large number of issues. This is why I am happy to welcome you here, and I am grateful to you for coming to Belarus to discuss these issues.

Dmitry Medvedev: Thank you very much, Mr Lukashenko. I am glad to be in Belarus. It should be said that over the past year, or possibly a bit longer, we have achieved major milestones and advanced to a fundamentally new level of strategic partnership, which is welcome news for Russia. I hope that the mood is the same in Belarus. There are figures to show that we have not been working in vain, and that we continue working despite the difficult financial conditions. Trade between our countries has reached a record level. It has never been so high. This is the result of our cooperation and also of integration processes within the framework of the Union State and, of course, the Customs Union. This is why we are holding a meeting of the Union Council of Ministers today. We will certainly discuss all issues on our agenda, including economic and defence issues and, of course, cultural projects. I hope that it will be a useful and successful meeting.

In general, I believe that our relations have reached a very good level and there is mutual agreement on the absolute majority of current issues. Of course, there are some perennial, recurring issues, and we will spend this short visit – which nevertheless has a very packaged agenda – discussing them.

Thank you very much for this meeting and for the comradely spirit of our discussion. This is always helpful.

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Адрес страницы в сети интернет: http://archive.government.ru/eng/docs/19724/