AMUR OBLAST, 12 April (BelTA) – Following the talks with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin at the Vostochny Cosmodrome in Amur Oblast Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko shared his first impressions of the Russian Far East with the media on 12 April, BelTA has learned.
“This is an amazing, extraordinary land! I have to admit that I wanted to visit it long time ago. It was a kind of romance for me. The fact that on Cosmonautics Day we saw the implementation of a project such as the Vostochny Cosmodrome has strengthened the general impressions of our delegation,” said Aleksandr Lukashenko.
The Belarusian leader considers the Vostochny Cosmodrome to be a world-class project: “This project is unmatched in the world.”
“Space is our common topic. During the Soviet era Belarusians made a significant contribution to the development of cosmonautics. We have managed not only to restore the former competences but to develop many new ones with the help of Russia,” the head of state said. As a result Belarus has entered the club of the space powers, he added. “In fact, we have created a new economic sector, the space industry, and we are proud of these successes. We see the prospects for further progress. This includes the development of the Earth remote sensing system (a decision has been made on this program today), satellite communications and a lot of other interesting areas of cooperation. Probably it is time to let new Belarusian cosmonauts get into space,” the president said.
Aleksandr Lukashenko thanked Vladimir Putin for supporting the initiative to provide Russia's assistance in training and sending a Belarusian cosmonaut into orbit and financing these activities.
