MINSK. Nov 16 (Interfax) - Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said his first visit after his inauguration will be to Russia at the invitation of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"It will be right that I will, as usual, visit Russia, which is not foreign to me, after the presidential elections in Belarus, even though some people may not like that. I think it will be right and that answers many questions," Lukashenko was quoted by the state-run news agency BelTA as saying during a meeting with Russian Ambassador to Belarus Alexander Surikov in Minsk on Monday.
The president said he is "ready for a serious conversation on the issue of Belarusian-Russian relations." "Let's have a frank discussion of your and our problems, if there are any, and determine the perspective," he said.
Lukashenko also said some areas of bilateral cooperation can be adjusted before the upcoming meeting with the Russian president "to relieve some concerns." At the same time, he said he does not see any special problems here.
Surikov, for his part, thanked the Belarusian president for accepting the invitation to pay an official visit to the Russian Federation.
"We are thankful that your first visit after the presidential elections will be to the Russian Federation. I think if there are any frictions - and there are always frictions in relations between countries, even the closest ones - they will be resolved during this meeting and will have due understanding," the ambassador said.