In a one-on-one meeting in Sochi on 22 August, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko and President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev have agreed to tackle all current difficult issues in the Belarusian-Russian relations in the near term, BelTA learnt from the presidential press service.

The private meeting lasted for two and a half hours. The two leaders discussed a wide range of issues.

The Presidents took a critical look at the state of the Belarusian-Russian relations and made a conclusion that they do not meet the level of strategic partnership. They came to a mutual consent that certain issues should be addressed in the near future. The Presidents agreed to take every effort, starting from this meeting, to resume a high level of partnership between the two countries.

Dmitry Medvedev emphasized that Belarusians and Russians are brotherly nations and they know what to do to avoid a breach of these brotherly relations.

The high-level meeting highlighted the whole range of bilateral relations including within integration organizations.

Alexander Lukashenko stressed that it is of great significance to secure a full operation of the Single Economic Space of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia from 1 January 2012. Belarus incurred considerable costs by joining the project, but the country believes this idea of the Single Economic Space to be crucial for creating equal conditions for the companies and people in the region.

The position of the Belarus President was strongly advocated by his Russian counterpart.

The two leaders also discussed the Union State development. In particular, they focused on a necessity to intensify relations within the Union State. The Presidents made a preliminary decision to hold the Union State Supreme State Council in November this year.

The construction of the nuclear power plant in Belarus was also high on the agenda of the summit. The relevant instructions were given to Director General of Russia’s Rosatom state corporation Sergei Kiriyenko to secure the signing of all necessary agreements on NPP construction and allocation of credit resources in September this year using the scheme and terms agreed upon in the construction of the nuclear power plant in Kaliningrad Oblast.

The Presidents detailed an array of issues concerning Belarus-Russia cooperation.

Alexander Lukashenko and Dmitry Medvedev talked over the efficiency of the Collective Security Treaty Organization. They discussed measures necessary to equip the collective rapid response forces with contemporary and compatible weaponry, the operational environment of foreign military units based in the CSTO, application of the collective rapid response forces in the CSTO region, and the regulation for making decisions within the organization taking into account Uzbekistan’s stance.

It is expected that the above listed proposals will be formalized as the relevant decisions at the forthcoming session of the CSTO Collective Security Council in December this year.

Special attention was given the issues of current international importance, including the situation in the Middle East and Europe.

Alexander Lukashenko and Dmitry Medvedev discussed the prospects of cooperation with Ukraine.

The Belarus President told his Russian counterpart on the results of his recent visit to Qatar and agreements reached during this official trip. Alexander Lukashenko also informed Dmitry Medvedev on cooperation prospects with Venezuela.

The meeting was held in an open, friendly and constructive atmosphere.