Aliaksandr Lukashenka met today with Arkhangelsk Region Governor Alexander Tsybulsky of Russia. As usual, he called for increased trade with the region, but also sought to emphasize Belarus’ importance.
According to Lukashenka, Belarus now has to be on the front line alongside Russia and successfully deter its opponents.
“For better or worse, our capabilities in recent times have increased in the direction of Russia. Today we have to be on the front line together with you. There is no getting away from it. The importance of Belarus is growing in connection with the events taking place around us.
We know the role we have to play in this world. The success of this role will largely depend on what our relations with the Russian Federation will be like. So far, everything is going normally. We are managing both to prevent and to deter our potential opponents here — not enemies yet, so to speak, but opponents. They understand that we are not sleeping here. And if we are sleeping, we see what we are supposed to see”, he said, according to his press service.
Lukashenka also noted that trade with the Arkhangelsk region had fallen threefold. It needs to be restored.
“Everything is in our hands. Our trade was about three times higher than it is now. We need to restore it and find the appropriate ways. And that applies to us as well. We should not wait behind the door or the fence for someone to come and offer options. We need to find mutually acceptable interests so that we can at least return to the level we once had. If we are to speak frankly”, he added.
He also outlined the main “interests” for such cooperation. Lukashenka offered the Russian region Amkodor logging equipment and also mentioned BelAZ robotic systems that are already operating in the region.
“You have quite a lot of our equipment operating there, including passenger vehicles, I mean the Minsk Automobile Plant. We recently built a new plant to produce passenger vehicles. We are ready to cooperate with you in this area”, he said.
Another proposal concerns elevator supplies. Lukashenka also proposed food supplies and cooperation in education.
