President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko and Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian discussed Eurasian integration and Armenia’s participation in it during their meeting in Minsk on Monday, BELTA reported.

“Work is underway to fulfill the tasks stipulated by the roadmap. Armenia is actively working on it. I would like to hear your position, your point of view, as a meeting of the heads of state of the Customs Union and the SES member states will be held in a couple of days in Minsk,” Alexander Lukashenko said.

The Belarusian leader said he is satisfied with the progress in promoting Belarus-Armenia cooperation.

“The bilateral trade is not that big. Maybe, it will never be. However, taking into consideration that we did not trade at all in the past, we have made a huge progress. I see that Armenia is interested in purchasing Belarusian products. We also buy what Armenia can offer and what we do not produce,” he said.

Alexander Lukashenko pointed to the active operation of Armenian investors in Belarus, adding that “Armenia is an allied nation”.

“Armenia is our friend, our partner, and we will keep working to build up very close relations with this country,” the Belarusian head of state said.

In turn, Armenian FM noted that Alexander Lukashenko’s visit to Armenia in 2013 gave a strong impetus to the promotion of the bilateral relations. Edward Nalbandian emphasized that the bilateral cooperation is on the rise in all the fields, including interregional ties, confirming Armenia's readiness to expand  cooperation in trade, economy and other fields.

Speaking about Eurasian integration, Edward Nalbandian noted that the meeting is a great opportunity to discuss Armenia’s efforts to join the Customs Union prior to the summits in Belarus and Kazakhstan.

“The roadmap has already been carried out. The commission will probably present a report on it at the forthcoming summit in Minsk,” the agency quotes the Minister.