Belarus President meets top officials to discuss his upcoming visit to Moscow

On Monday on the eve of the summit meeting in the Russian Federation due on 14th August Belarussian leader Aleksander Lukashenko held a working meeting with the leadership of the country to discuss his upcoming visit to Moscow.

Lukashenko stated that "they gathered to hold consultations on certain issues of Russian-Belarussian relations, to work out the final position of the Belarussian side at those negotiations." According to him, "a certain pause " in contacts at the highest level did not interrupt "intense work" in all areas of bilateral relations.

According to the President, negotiations with Vladimir Putin would logically follow-up on the dialogue commenced earlier in the course of multiple meetings. Lukashenko stated that at the negotiations two areas of development of bilateral relations would be discussed. The first strategical question: "What type of the Union it is going to be?" The second subject, according to Lukashenko, related to prospects of economic cooperation.

In the course of the meeting the Belarussian leader stated that for Belarus the Union with Russia "was not a game and political market situation" but the "foreign policy priority number 1 implementation of which the Belarussian leadership was treating thoroughly and with consideration." Lukashenko stressed that Belarussian valued fraternal relations of the Russian people. The President stated that "we were always together in happiness and in sorrow, and we would stay together. Nobody will manage to spoil relations between the two countries."