Azernews.Az

By Nazrin Gadimova

Development of cooperation with Azerbaijan is among the main priorities of Belarus.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko made the remark at a meeting with Azerbaijan's Prime Minister Artur Rasizade in Minsk on June 20.

President Lukashenko further said Azerbaijan is a close partner of Belarus, adding that leaders of the two states traditionally maintain good relations.

"All-round cooperation has been increasingly vibrant," the Belarusian president said. "In spite of certain difficulties and problems [which always exist] we have managed to avoid forbidden topics in our cooperation. We are absolutely open for you. There are no restrictions as to the products which we can deliver to Azerbaijan or which you can sell in Belarus. There are no forbidden topics in terms of the establishment of joint ventures. Therefore, we set up joint companies in Azerbaijan."

He also reminded that Belarus is a very good friend of Azerbaijan, welcomes Azerbaijani investments, and will always support it.

"Azerbaijan is one of the priority states for us. We remember very well when we had difficult times you were among the first countries to lend a helping hand. You should remember that Belarus is a close friend of yours. We stand ready to provide any assistance to you, if necessary, to help resolve any problems, even the most difficult ones. We will do everything to help you. You can count on us," Lukashenko emphasized.

Rasizade, in turn, said Azerbaijan highly appreciates the relations with Belarus and views it as a brotherly country.

"We will continue to do our best to advance our all-round relations in politics, economy and humanitarian field to a brand-new level. We are always ready to support Belarus in all aspects," the Azerbaijani prime minister said.

Meanwhile, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister met Belarusian First Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Mihnevich to discuss current state of political relations in Baku.

Mihnevich also met Azerbaijani Deputy Foreign Minister Khalaf Khalafov. During the meeting, Khalafov emphasized the importance of consultations between the foreign ministries of two countries and praised the current state of the bilateral relations.

Azerbaijan and Belarus established diplomatic relations in 1993. Belarus is interested in increasing the capacity of Belarusian assembly plants operating in Azerbaijan, as well as implementation of new projects in construction, education, health, science and cultural fields.

The cooperation agreements signed between the justice ministries of the two countries in 1999 and 2012 during the Azerbaijani president's visits to Belarus made a considerable contribution to the expansion of mutual relations.