On 17 January, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko convened a meeting to discuss foreign trade in 2025, BelTA learned.  
“We will also talk about the foreign trade of Belarus this year,” the head of state said as he opened the meeting.

“The West does not seem to want to cooperate with us in economy, does not need our products. We understand it perfectly well. Unnecessary competition in the field of automobile manufacturing, other industries is not on the agenda of Western countries controlled by the U.S.,” Aleksandr Lukashenko pointed out. “It is no secret that today we trade mostly in the eastern direction, although we are not leaving the West completely. We trade and sell what they are interested in and what is profitable for us, but the volumes and the money are not what we need. That is why we are going east. Russian Federation, People's Republic of China”.