President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Mr Lukashenko,
I am very glad to meet with you again. It seems that we saw each other not so long ago, but, as I always say in such situations, the dynamics of our relationship are such that new things are coming up all the time that we need to pay attention to, agree on, and adjust.
Still, in general, I would like to point out that – you know it better than anyone else – our main area of cooperation, trade and economic relations, is developing successfully, despite all attempts from the outside to influence it in some way. After all, according to our statistics, the trade of nearly 50 – in fact, 52 billion dollars last year is a good indicator. And in the first six months of this year – a further 12.5 percent increase, 4.5 billion in direct investment from Russia, and 2,500 enterprises with Russian participation.
And what is most important, to my mind, and of the greatest significance, is that we are cooperating not only in traditional areas, but also in areas that are particularly important today: namely, high technology. And here I would like to reiterate that, thanks to your long-standing efforts, Belarus has preserved and built upon much of what was created back in the days of the Soviet Union, and now, jointly, we can continue to move forward in these areas, including microelectronics and some other areas.
We are very glad to see you. I know that you were already quite busy yesterday working within the Government of the Russian Federation, with your colleagues and mine from the Russian Government. Now, in the course of our discussion today, we shall summarise some of the outcomes. If there is anything that needs to be added or amended, we shall do just so.
And we continue to play an active role in the international arena while strengthening the Union State. I believe that a meeting of the Council of Ministers of the Union State is due to take place in the near future.
We are working on all platforms, including the UN and the organisations in which we have been actively involved from the outset: the CIS, the SCO and others. All of this, of course, will also be on our agenda today.
Welcome.
President of the Republic of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko: Mr President, thank you for this meeting.
It makes it much easier for us to discuss issues that require decisions. There are practically no outstanding questions. The Government is working well.
Yesterday, Mr Mishustin and I – you are well aware of it – systematically and thoroughly went through the entire list. Moreover, the initiative came not from me but from Mr Mishustin himself. He took out his notebook, and we went through all the problems and issues one by one and discussed them in detail. It was a very productive conversation, and I even thanked him for taking the time to meet. It will make our work much easier.
You are right, our trade is growing: by at least 12 percent, although the final figures still need to be calculated. We will significantly exceed last year’s trade volume. It is also encouraging that, as you noted, modern electronics account for a significant share of our trade.
Yesterday, Mr Mishustin and I discussed combining our efforts in electronics. We have considerable expertise of our own. Denis Manturov recently visited us and toured these enterprises together with specialists. We have already begun developing cooperation in this area. But I want to emphasise that – and this is the unanimous view of your Government, our Government, and myself – we certainly will not find ourselves without the microelectronics products we need. Together, we are already producing everything we need today, and tomorrow we will reach a very high level. So, we will find a solution. This is not a problem, just as we will find solutions in other areas of our cooperation.
As for current issues, we are faithfully fulfilling all our agreements, whether in agriculture, food supplies, fuel, or other areas.
The fact that we are meeting here today is not entirely of our own making. The dynamics of international relations are such that they also prompt us to discuss the challenges we face.
You can be confident that we will overcome all difficulties together, through our joint efforts. I have said this more than once in meetings with representatives of Russian business and with regional leaders. Therefore, I believe that today will be more about taking stock of what has been achieved than about making new decisions.
<…>