Belarus President: CIS should be preserved and developed

The Commonwealth of Independent States should be preserved and developed as a single platform for dialogue and for working out joint resolutions. President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko made the statement as he met with heads of CIS mass media in Minsk: "Sometimes people ask whether there was any sense in the existence of the Commonwealth of Independent States and if there is any sense now. Those, who ask, point out that many countries are now aligned with different centers of power. Russia, Kazakhstan, and Belarus are busy building the Eurasian Economic Union. Ukraine, Moldova, and partially Armenia try to expand relations with the European Union. China’s influence grows by the hour in Central Asia. Let me tell you something that may seem paradoxical. The fact that the CIS states pursue different policies does not weaken but strengthens the need for a uniting mechanism. A common platform for dialogue is a significant part of it".
The Belarus President said he was convinced that it is necessary to keep the Commonwealth of Independent States as a platform for making concrete decisions.
In his words, it is natural that some CIS states “try to find their happiness overseas”. But it does not mean that the Commonwealth of Independent States should be forgotten.