Lukashenko holds meetings with Erdogan, Tokayev and Sharif

In the margins of the summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko held bilateral meetings with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and Pakistani Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, BelTA informs.

The meeting between Lukashenko and Erdogan lasted about an hour. It was also attended by foreign ministers and other officials from both sides.

The leaders of the countries did not make official statements to the press, but went straight to the negotiations.

President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko is sure that Asia should not miss the moment in the current situation in the world and one should not be afraid of taking leadership functions. He said this at a meeting with President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.

"Thank you very much for the invitation. I really I believe, as I said today, that the time of Asia is coming. Asia, the East - people are very careful, cautious, calibrated. This behavior of Asia should not cause Asia to miss this moment. So you must bravely take the reins of the world," the President of Belarus said.

Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said he was happy to see Alexander Lukashenko, especially in Astana, and thanked him for his contribution to the summit.

The Kazakh President stated that Asia is showing very good results in its development, and it is certainly a region with a great future in terms of the economy. "Of course, China is the driving force in Asia. But there are also other states," he noted. Kassym-Jomart Tokayev particularly mentioned Vietnam, which was also represented at the summit. It's a country with a large and rapidly developing economy.

Alexander Lukashenko agreed with this thesis, but also pointed to Kazakhstan's significant role in Asia. "You said that yes, there are very serious large states in this organization. But I don't think that Kazakhstan is a small state and unable to contribute to the fact that all Asian organizations today dominate the world. And you have done a lot for that," he stressed.

As for the bilateral relations with Belarus, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev assured that he will do everything possible for the effective and multilateral cooperation to continue developing.

"We have an absolutely positive attitude and tone. I keep telling the members of the government as well that we need to do everything possible to build up this volume. Be it trade, investment cooperation, joint projects. In principle, there is no reason to worry. You just need to use the opportunities that are available”, said the President of Kazakhstan.

In Astana, Alexander Lukashenko also met with Prime Minister of Pakistan Shahbaz Sharif.

The leaders of the countries met recently - about a month ago - on the margins of the SCO summit in Samarkand. But there is a need to coordinate positions again with regard to cooperation