The countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States need to take steps toward strengthening unity, and expanding economic cooperation should be the priority in this regard. This was stated by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko at the CIS summit in Turkmenistan.
"It is good that we meet, good that we talked, looked at each other, made a statement. For the domestic audience, it is useful to know. But let us take other steps toward closer unity. And unity will be provided primarily by the economy," Lukashenko said in his speech.
The Belarusian president called the economy an opportunity to take care of both the prosperity and the power of the CIS member states.
"Then there will be less talk about independence, preserving borders and so on. We need to strengthen the economy. And in this regard, we need to work seriously," Lukashenko said.
"We are ready to participate in this in every possible way," he said.