MINSK, 26 October (BelTA) – A phone conversation between the presidents of Belarus and Russia took place on 26 October following the relevant initiative of the Russian side, the press service of the Belarusian head of state told BelTA. Alexander Lukashenko and Dmitry Medvedev discussed cooperation of the two countries in integration associations in detail. Close attention was paid to the Single Economic Space that will start functioning on 1 January 2012. The heads of state came to terms regarding the meeting of the presidents of Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Russia that will be held in late November for the sake of signing the treaty on the Eurasian Economic Commission. The phone conversation touched upon CSTO matters, too. Alexander Lukashenko informed his Russian counterpart about the work of the CSTO Parliamentary Assembly Council, which session was taking place in Minsk. The two presidents discussed the progress in implementing Belarusian initiatives, which are aimed at enhancing the CSTO effectiveness and stepping up the security in the organization’s responsibility area. These initiatives of Belarus, which now presides over the CSTO, were backed at the informal summit in Astana on 12 August 2011. In particular, the initiatives involve the improvement of the decision-making mechanism, formation and equipment of the collective security forces, and joint efforts aimed at counteracting modern threats and challenges. In view of the oncoming parliamentary elections in Russia Alexander Lukashenko was interested in the political campaign progress and wished success to Dmitry Medvedev.

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