Belarus, Russia express concern about NATO''s activity in Baltic states, Poland

5/30/2018 - 4:48:41 PM

Belarus and Russia expressed concern about the intensified NATO activities in the Baltic states and Poland, local media reported.

This file picture shows Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (R) and his Belarusian counterpart Vladimir Makei.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov made the statement in Minsk on May 29 after having talks with his Belarusian counterpart Vladimir Makei.

"We are alarmed by an increase in NATO's activities, which we've been recently noticing in close proximity to our borders, primarily in the Baltic states and Poland," Lavrov said.

"Such actions to unilaterally build up the military infrastructure, deploy forces and assets near our borders are destructive and undermine trust and mutual understanding," he said.

Talking about the situation on the European continent and in the Euro-Atlantic space, Lavrov stressed that Belarus and Russia are interested in advancing equal, mutually beneficial relations with the European Union and via a dialogue with the North Atlantic Alliance.

"We've agreed to continue working towards fixing the relations in line with the political documents adopted at the top level at the end of the Cold War," he said.

Source: NDO

Removing “bottlenecks” in global problems

The Foreign Ministers’ Meeting of the world’s leading developed and emerging economies (G20) recently held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil emphasised the need to reform global governance institutions, especially the United Nations Security Council. The meeting is also an opportunity for G20 to find solutions to a series of hot issues facing the world, such as poverty, climate change, and conflict.

ASEAN FMs issue statement on maintaining, promoting stability in maritime sphere in Southeast Asia

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Foreign Ministers on December 30 issued a statement on maintaining and promoting stability in the maritime sphere in Southeast Asia.

Optimistic signals of the world economy

The world economy has overcome a challenging year, but has proven more resilient than expected. The Financial Times (UK) commented that 2023 was a positive year for the world economy as the economic surprise index collated by Citigroup shew that actual data have underwhelmed economists’ predictions for much of the past months. These economic trends are the basis for optimism about the world economy in 2024.