Ukraine, Belarus seek to upgrade trade, economic cooperation

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin and his visiting Belarusian counterpart Vladimir Makei have pledged to upgrade bilateral trade ties and economic cooperation during a meet here on Wednesday.

Speaking during a media briefing after their talks, Klimkin said the recent meeting of Ukraine-Belarus intergovernmental commission on trade and economic cooperation paved the way for the two countries to push forward economic ties.

"We have outlined plans for further trade cooperation and collaboration in various sectors," Klimkin told reporters.

For his part, Makei said that the Ukraine-Belarus intergovernmental commission has developed a road map for the two countries to boost their cooperation in such areas as industry, energy, transportation and logistic.

Makei stressed that the two countries should as soon as possible intensify their efforts to revive bilateral trade that has dropped by 50 percent since the beginning of this year.

"I do not consider this situation as tragic, and I believe that it is possible to change it," Makei said.

Last year, bilateral trade turnover between Ukraine and Belarus fell 7.5 percent to 5.8 billion U.S. dollars.