FM: Belarus-Russia trade up by $18bn over five years

Over the past five years Belarus-Russia trade grew by $18 billion, Belarusian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Aleinik told reporters after negotiations with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov who was on an official visit to Belarus on 24 June, BelTA has learned.

“We are proud of achieving such results in bilateral trade. Despite the record high figures in 2022, we still managed to  keep the bar high last year. We managed to set another record in our trade at an all-time high of $54 billion. All in all, over the last five years the trade expanded by $18 billion,” said Sergei Aleinik.

According to him, it is very encouraging that bilateral trade kept growing throughout the four months of this year.

The foreign minister drew attention to the expansion of interregional cooperation, which is coordinated by the foreign ministry. This year, about 45 delegations from Russian regions visited Belarus, and 36 Belarusian delegations went to Russian regions. Belarus is looking forward to seeing Russian delegations at the upcoming 11th edition of the Forum of Regions of Belarus and Russia.

“It is obvious that this success would have been impossible without a strong integration foundation: the Union State, the EAEU and the CIS. The Union State integration has long been a benchmark for cooperation in the post-Soviet space. Transformations taking place in global politics and economy in recent years have once again confirmed that our peoples and leaders made the right decision when they chose integration,” the minister emphasized. “Therefore, we have substantively discussed mutual support in integration associations and international platforms,” Sergei Aleinik remarked.

The Belarusian foreign minister went on saying: “Belarus voted against all anti-Russian resolutions at the UN. Our delegations stand together for justice and support each other at plenary discussions of the UN General Assembly and meetings of the UN Security Council.”

“As far as security is concerned, we have invited Sergey Lavrov to take part in the second edition of the High-level International Conference “Eurasian security: reality and prospects in a transforming world” that will be held in Minsk at late October - early November 2024. We count on Russia’s meaningful participation in this important event,” said Sergei Aleinik.