Opinions & Interviews

TASHKENT, 13 September (BelTA) – The current official visit of Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko to Uzbekistan has taken two years to prepare. The Belarusian head of state revealed the fact after negotiations with Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev on 13 September, BelTA has learned.

The agreement on Alexander Lukashenko’s visit was reached during the meeting in Samarkand two years ago. Back then Shavkat Mirziyoyev invited his Belarusian counterpart to visit Uzbekistan in two months.

Alexander Lukashenko said: “If the first president of Uzbekistan was alive, it would have been a more pro forma visit. I said we should put things on hold and prepare a more substantial visit. We should give a nudge to our bilateral relations and spur the intergovernmental commission. When we see the roadmap is nearly ready, we will meet. It is the story behind this meeting.”

“We haven’t come to Uzbekistan as tourists. I feel it already. We’ve come here bringing concrete proposals in response to demands and wishes of my friend and colleague, the president of Uzbekistan,” noted the Belarusian head of state.

Alexander Lukashenko’s visit to Uzbekistan is characterized not only by the lengthy private negotiations with the Uzbek head of state but also by a large number of agreements: the sides signed 16 documents as a result of the meeting. Belarusian and Uzbek government agencies had signed several other agreements the day before. Serious contracts were signed during the Belarus-Uzbekistan business and regional cooperation forum. The two countries have agreed not to be satisfied with what has been achieved already but to work on many other projects, too.