Lukashenko hopes for deeper cooperation in Union State

MINSK, 15 March (BelTA) – In a meeting with State Secretary of the Union State Grigory Rapota on 15 March, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko expressed hope for further expansion of cooperation within the Union State of Belarus and Russia, BelTA has learnt.

“I am glad we will be working together to give further headway to the Union State project,” the President said addressing Grigory Rapota.

In his words, the parties should define approaches to enhance the level of cooperation in the Union State. “We will find the areas necessary for adding momentum to the Union State development,” Alexander Lukashenko stressed.

Alexander Lukashenko also noted that Grigory Rapota knows newly-elected President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin very well. “I talked to him not long ago, and his first words were: “We need to continue our integration”, the President of Belarus added.

“Indeed, time, situation show that we do not need to look around to learn what they think about us. We need to care about our people and what they, in Russia and Belarus, think about us, and we should act in this direction,” Alexander Lukashenko said.

“I am prepared to discuss the main areas of our activities right to the convocation of the Supreme State Council and a set of issues that are pressing today for the Belarus-Russia Union State,” the President said.

For his part, Grigory Rapota said that it is extremely important for him to hear the opinion of the President of Belarus who is also head of the Supreme State Council.

According to him, currently work is underway to review the situation as the work in the SES troika has intensified. “We need to understand the place of the Union State in the integration structure and in the CIS in general,” Grigory Rapota said.

In addition, he noted that work is also underway to analyze the situation after Russia acceded into the WTO to make sure the Union State should benefit from it. “I would like to discuss with you and to know your opinion on the expansion of forms of interaction in the Union State,” Grigory Rapota said.