MINSK, 16 May (BelTA) – Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko has left for Moscow on a working visit. The plane of the head of state took off from Minsk National Airport, BelTA has learned.
In Moscow Aleksandr Lukashenko will take part in the Summit of the Leaders of the Collective Security Treaty Organization member states. The summit is timed to the 30th anniversary of the Collective Security Treaty and the 20th anniversary of the CSTO.
The press service of the Belarusian leader informed earlier that apart from the anniversary agenda, the leaders of the CSTO member states are also set to exchange views on the current situation in the region and the world, and discuss joint response to emerging challenges and threats.
Aleksandr Lukashenko is expected to hold talks with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. One of the main topics of discussion will be the development of cooperation and joint work on import substitution.
At the meeting with the Russian ambassador to Belarus on 12 May Aleksandr Lukashenko highlighted the importance of import substitution in cooperation with Russia. “There are many competencies both in Belarus and in Russia. Well, due to certain reasons they were not evolving as they should have. It is good that we still have these competencies,” the head of state said.
Aleksandr Lukashenko cited a number of examples: “For example, our Integral company and what it produces. There are similar enterprises in Russia. We have a solid groundwork. Another example is Horizont. It makes a lot of goods for the aircraft industry, which the Russians did not know about, as I was recently informed. When we showed these products to Russia, everyone was surprised. They are related to spacecraft and aircraft control. We manufacture a lot of things for drones. Therefore, all our efforts should be concentrated on replacing imports.”
