Presidents of Belarus and Russia discussed trade and interaction in integration associations

         President of the Republic of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko and Russian President Vladimir Putin met in Sochi to review a wide range of issues of bilateral relations, cooperation within the various integration groups and exchanged views on the current issues on the international agenda.
The Presidents discussed trade and economic cooperation between the two countries, major joint projects, including the construction of the Belarusian nuclear power plant. The growth in bilateral trade was praised as an important positive moment.
         Vladimir Putin informed Alexander Lukashenko about the results of the APEC summit. He noted that in his speech at the summit he stressed that Russia presents not only its interests but also the interests of the Customs Union and the Single Economic Space.
       “I should say that it sparks interest among our partners, and some of them are ready to conclude agreements on free trade zone with the SES. Our taskforce has almost completed the work on the free trade agreement with Vietnam and we are ready to embark on work in this direction.
          There are other well-developed economies eager to promote such cooperation. We should consider all pros and cons. While addressing this issue, we need to look into commodity items and groups, level off the interests from both the sides. But the interest to develop cooperation with us is genuine.
It attests that our common market is seen as attractive, and that our partners see prospects by cooperating with us”.