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Foreign ministers of Belarus, Venezuela meet in Minsk

Belarusian Foreign Minister Uladzimir Makey met Thursday in Minsk with his Venezuelan counterpart, Elias Jose Jaua Milano.

During the meeting, Messrs. Makey and Jaua confirmed their countries' commitment to the expansion of bilateral cooperation, reported the press office of the Belarusian foreign ministry.

Photo: mfa.gov.by

"We view your visit as [Venezuela's] intention to further develop the dialogue and relations with Belarus," Mr. Makey said at the beginning of the meeting. "In a relatively short period of time, our countries have created a solid basis for cooperation and the implementation of [joint] projects."

It is important for Belarus and Venezuela to support each other in the current complicated economic situation in the world and the "conditions around our countries," Mr. Makey noted.

"The relationship between Belarus and Venezuela is not prone to any transient factors," he said. "Our aim is to jointly respond to the challenges that are being imposed on us from the outside in order to strengthen the potential of our countries and improve the living standards of our people."

According to Mr. Jaua, every time Venezuelans come to Minsk, they feel "good emotions" and remember the late Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and the friendship that he and Alyaksandr Lukashenka had established.

"We discovered the beauty of Belarus and its huge potential in 2006," Mr. Jaua said. "In the following eight years, this potential was transformed into the implementation of 44 projects, which have already borne fruit for our nations."

Mr. Jaua noted that incumbent Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro had asked him to visit to Minsk to reassure the Belarusian authorities that Venezuela was ready and determined to expand cooperation with Belarus in all areas, and set to continue "our cooperation in the international arena for the establishment of a just world system where everyone respects each other."

"We confirm our approaches with regard to the need to establish a multipolar world and view Belarus as a country that spearheads the establishment of a multipolar world without the hegemony of imperialism," Mr. Jaua said.