Alexander Lukashenko is taking part in a meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council in St. Petersburg.
Negotiations among the leaders of the EAEU countries first took place in a narrow composition. The speech of the Belarusian leader was extremely frank and principled without retouching of unresolved issues and problems in the Union. The year 2018 was ambiguous from both a political and economic point of view for the Eurasian integration. Among positive achievements, the Head of the Belarusian State notes the entry into force of the Treaty on the EAEU Customs Code, as well as vesting of Moldova with observer status. The Union member states signed a temporary agreement leading to the formation of a free trade zone with Iran, and an agreement on trade and economic cooperation with China. Nevertheless, important questions are unresolved. They concern elimination of barriers to trade, formation of common gas and oil markets, digitalization of the economies of the EAEU countries. At the opening of the meeting, Alexander Lukashenko and Vladimir Putin debated on energy prices.
Today, the leaders of the Eurasian Union member states will discuss further development of integration processes. The discussion program also includes issues related to the international activities of the EAEU, competition in cross-border markets, cooperation in the provision of space and geo-information services. An informal meeting of the CIS leaders will take place in St. Petersburg today. This is an opportunity to sum up cooperation in 2018 and discuss implementation of the agreements reached earlier and the further development of cooperation in the Commonwealth format.
