YEREVAN, JULY 17, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan met with President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko in Minsk.

As ARMENPRESS was informed from the Office of the Prime Minister of Armenia, the President of Belarus warmly greeted the Armenian PM and referred to the cooperation and solution of problems in the Eurasian Economic Union.

‘’Frankly speaking, there are numerous problems in the EAEU linked with the fact that we have not implemented our agreements. We still have enough obstacles, there are obstacles on interstate borders. Even the business community has started to voice about that. It seems that there are no borders and the tensions on the borders are exaggerated. You also see that. Therefore, there is much to be done. But I would like very much that the meeting of the Prime Ministers should foster the solution of those problems.  

‘’The Eurasian Intergovernmental Council was a clear step for deepening relations in the EAEU zone, at least, I would like it to be so. There was a serious exchange of opinions. As far as I was informed, you were the driving force of that meeting’’, the President of Belarus said.

According to him, Belarus and Armenia have almost the same problems in the EAEU. Alexander Lukashenko emphasized that Armenia and Belarus do not have vast natural resources, which makes the situation more complicated for them.

Thanking for the warm reception, PM Pashinyan mentioned, ‘’I am very glad to see you. We had not met for a long period due to coronavirus. I hope our works will return to the normal state of affairs and we will meet regularly.

During today’s session we listened to the report on the elimination of obstacles. And I can say that we have quite good results. I can bring the example of Armenia. We had to eliminate two obstacles and we have already done that. One of the decisions has already entered into force, the other has been adopted but will enter in to force a bit later.

Russia also has eliminated two obstacles, and so our other partners. Today we listened to a report on 10 obstacles 8 of which have already been eliminated’’, PM Pashinyan said,a dding that other important issues were also discussed.

‘’It was an effective meeting. Yes, it lasted longer, but I think that it was worth working on projects, since concrete issues were solved. Those issues concern all of us. I know that there are issues that are particularly important for Belarus, and there are issues that are particularly important for Armenia. I think if we manage to preserve the political will at this level, all the issues will be solved. We just have to work for it’’, Pashinyan said.

During the meeting the interlocutors also discussed a number of issues about the relations between Armenia and Belarus, exchanged views on the possibilities of overcoming the coronavirus pandemic.

PM Pashinyan also referred to the escalation of situation on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border and presented details to his Belarusian colleague.

Edited and translated by Tigran Sirekanyan