While praising the development of Belarus-Russia cooperation over 2025, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko stressed that the planned goals had not been fully met despite trade growth. The Belarusian leader made these remarks as he met with Belarusian Ambassador to Russia Aleksandr Rogozhnik to receive his report on 5 January, BelTA has learned.
“The fact that Russia is our priority goes without saying. I hardly need to tell our ambassador that. We spoke about the topic when you were appointed. After working for some time there, you understand that this is our main direction. Overall, we appear to be securing growth. And to be frank, given the current circumstances in Belarus and Russia, a figure of 102.5%, nearing 103%, is reasonably good. However, our target was 105%. We are aware of the issues. There is a downturn in industrial output. This falls under your purview, incidentally, as a former Industry Minister (though of course, there’s no such thing as a ‘former’ minister),” the president said.
