BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

29/01/2008

Lukashenko lauds Belarus-Russia relations

MINSK, January 29 (Itar-Tass) -- Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has lauded relations with Russia.

"Nothing has changed for the worse; on the contrary, we have corrected the recent inadequacies, including those economic," he said. "We are interested in comprehensive cooperation with Russia."

The economy is the foundation of the bilateral relations, Lukashenko said. As for coordination of the two foreign policies, he said, "God help all ministers to achieve such progress as the defense and foreign ministers have made. We are ready for open and explicit discussions of any problems."

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov referred to the joint foreign political action plan, which is due to be approved by the boards of the two foreign ministries on Wednesday.

"The Russian administration is satisfied with our work," he said, referring to numerous contacts of last year.

He also welcomed growth of the bilateral trade. "Our trade is based on close relations between industries and economic growth, which solidify the foundation of the Union State," he said.

Source:

http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=12309012&PageNum=0