There was a tough exchange of views between Pashinyan and Lukashenko

President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko and Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan sparred at a meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council in a broad format. This was reported in the press service of the Belarusian leader.

It is reported that in 2025 Belarus will preside over the bodies of the EAEU. In this regard, Alexander Lukashenko proposed to hold the next summit in Minsk "around May 29" next year. At the same time, he asked observers "to attend meetings, and not to tell on TV how they will cooperate with us."

In turn, the Prime Minister of Armenia, who took part in the meeting online, said that the Armenian delegation would not come to Minsk.

"... I want to clarify that we have no objection to holding a meeting of the Supreme Economic Council in Minsk, but I want to say in advance that our delegation will take part in the meeting via videoconference," he said.

In response, Lukashenko asked about the reason for this decision and offered to arrange "delivery of your delegation, if necessary."

"I have made a public statement about this and this statement remains in force. I don't think this is the right format to discuss this issue. You just raised the issue and I should have reacted immediately so that there would be no misunderstandings," Pashinyan replied.

To this, Lukashenko said that "we will consider your application." According to him, "maybe there won't be a TV so that you can perform remotely."

No problem. I propose to proceed to the signing procedure. I understand that you may have problems with the TV," the Armenian Prime Minister said.

Later, Lukashenko said that the debate at the meeting was very serious.

"During the debate in a narrow format, when discussing the issue of staff and wages, I asked our Eurasian Commission to give us six months to analyze the staffing table and wages and resolve the issue of raising wages. The debates were very serious — from salaries to oil and gas," Lukashenko said.

It should be recalled that relations between Armenia and Belarus have become complicated due to Yerevan's position. The Armenian capital accuses Minsk of helping Azerbaijan. In this regard, Pashinyan banned any direct political contacts with representatives of Belarus.