Belarus enjoys a number of benefits from participating in events on the BRICS platform. First of all, it is possible to talk to a large number of leaders of various countries during one occasion. It would take several years to do the same through bilateral contacts. Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko made the statement in an interview with the Chinese TV channel CGTN on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in the Russian city of Kazan, BelTA has learned.
Aleksandr Lukashenko stated: “Our place, Belarus’ place is in this collective. Our place is over there. Because our views on the world agenda coincide. Our views on the world coincide. We have practically the same goals. We strive for a multipolar world. We are against diktat and the rest. We are open. We have an open economy. We are a technological country. We can share our technologies, competences, skills of the people with many countries in BRICS.”
When asked what BRICS means for Belarus, Aleksandr Lukashenko said that he had managed to hold a series of bilateral meetings and give three interviews to various mass media over the course of only several hours of the forum. "It is a great opportunity to hold negotiations with leaders of leading states within several hours. You know perfectly well what countries belong to BRICS. We are talking about virtually half the world in terms of manufacturing, population, and territory. Nearly half the world. What does a compact, small, European Belarus need? It needs contacts and arrangements," the president said.
He remarked that as a result of meetings with leaders of various countries Belarusians had found good work for themselves in essentially each of these states: “We can advance, establish tighter relations with these countries, with which representatives I’ve negotiated. I admit I haven’t met with the leadership of Russia and China in Kazan yet. Why should we meet? We already meet quite often with China’s and Russia’s leadership. We have excellent relations with them.”
As an example Aleksandr Lukashenko referred to his negotiations with Prime Minister of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia Abiy Ahmed Ali: “The competences that we have, the technologies for development would last Ethiopia for decades. An interesting and powerful country. Interesting for Russia, China, America, and so on. But they invite us. What’s wrong with that? And we have come to an agreement on many matters with him.”
“The same is true for Laos, for other countries I’ve negotiated with. And it happened virtually over the course of 4-5 hours. And if I work here for two days, I will have contacts and agreements with a dozen countries. Without it I may need 5-7 years to visit these countries and conduct negotiations. In other words, [BRICS] is a good platform for arrangements. Not just for meeting people (we have already met everyone) but for building our relations, for working out a roadmap, a plan to guide our relations in the future. It is a great accomplishment for any country. Even more so for Belarus,” the Belarusian leader concluded.
