Belarusian president proposes to expand cooperation with EU

MINSK, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said on Monday that his country is ready to expand cooperation with the European Union (EU) if there are no preconditions from the bloc.

Belarus is interested in building mutually respectful and good-neighborly relations with EU countries, Lukashenko said during his meeting with Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde and Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto in Minsk.

The president confirmed the Belarusian side's intention of signing key agreements with the EU to expand cooperation.

This is the first visit of the Swedish foreign minister to Belarus. The Finnish foreign minister represents the country which is currently presiding in the Council of the European Union.