Belarus and Russia intend to promote the union building project

July 18, Minsk /BELTA/. Belarus and Russia intend to advance the project of union building. This was stated on July 18 by President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko at a meeting in Minsk with Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev, BELTA was informed by the press service of the Belarusian head of state. Welcoming Dmitry Medvedev, Alexander Lukashenko noted that "there is something to talk about, there are problems and issues of a strategic nature that need to be discussed." "It is very important that you are starting your old new life in politics with Belarus, by holding a very important event (meeting of the Council of Ministers of the Union State). This indicates that we have paid and will continue to pay attention to integration processes. And we will not only pay attention to this core, our main project of the Union State, but also advance it," the President said. Alexander Lukashenko emphasized that the Belarusian side is ready for a discussion on all issues, including union building, its prospects, as well as defense and finance. "And taking into account the unfavorable trends that are coming upon us, not to mention from the West, not to mention from the South - from all directions. There are a lot of problems that would also need to be coordinated," the Belarusian head of state added. In turn, Dmitry Medvedev stated that Belarusian-Russian relations have reached a completely different level of strategic partnership. "Over the past year, perhaps a little more, we have come a very long way and have reached a completely different level of strategic partnership, which cannot but please us in Russia, and I hope the sentiments in Belarus are the same," said the head of the Russian government. According to Dmitry Medvedev, concrete figures speak about the active cooperation between the two countries: "The trade turnover between our countries has reached an unprecedented level. There has never been such a trade turnover. This is the result of joint activities and integration processes within the framework of the Union State and the Customs Union." The volume of mutual trade between Belarus and Russia in January-May 2012 exceeded $19 billion and amounted to 125.1% compared to the same period last year. Russia accounted for almost 47% of Belarus's total foreign trade during this period. In January-May 2012, exports were carried out for 945 types of goods, compared to 905 in the same period of 2011. As the Prime Minister of Russia noted, during today's meeting of the Union Council of Ministers, it is planned to discuss issues of economic cooperation between Belarus and Russia, and interaction in the defense and humanitarian spheres: "In general, we believe that our relations are currently at a very good level, there is mutual understanding on almost the absolute majority of current issues." -0-