MINSK, 9 September (BelTA) - Russia is vitally interested in any form of integration in the post Soviet Union space, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko told media.

“Russia has been and remains an advocate of integration. What is more, where Russia is committed to integration, very serious progress has been made. Without Russia, there would have been no integration of any kind among the former Soviet Union states,” said the head of state.

Alexander Lukashenko added that Russia would never agree to destroy the CIS.

Russia is vitally interested in any integration movement in the post Soviet Union space, and I know that from the words of Dmitry Medvedev. It is vitally important for Russia,” the head of state said. According to him, this is a good tool for Russia to keep track of what is going on in the neighboring countries.

Speaking about the CIS and its viability, Alexander Lukashenko said that the CIS fully performs its functions. “What exactly do we want from the CIS? If we want the same things as in the Belarus-Russia Union State, this would never happen. The interests of the states are very different. If we want the same things in the CIS as in the EurAsEC, Customs Union and the Single Economic Space, this will not happen either because the agenda of the other CIS countries is different,” said the Belarusian leader. As an example he cited Ukraine, which does not seek the Customs Union membership and advocates the cooperation formula “3 +1”.

“Today, the CIS serves as a platform, or a kind of a negotiations room, which brings together the heads of eleven states to discuss problems. Ii is a good negotiating platform. Why demand more things from the CIS,” added Alexander Lukashenko.