Our foreign policy seeks to encourage domestic sustainable development, i.e. to ensure it works right for bringing larger benefits for our economic growth and prosperity.

Our key principle in external affairs is a balanced, multiple-directed foreign policy harmonizing consistency and pragmatism with flexibility and larger ability to respond to major challenges effectively.

Our key priority is our neighbours.

Russia. A major trade and economic partner for Belarus, Russia remains our major strategic ally. Belarus and Russia continue to intensify cooperation both bilaterally and multilaterally. However, ensuring our full sovereignty is crucial in relations with Russia.

Commonwealth of Independent States. Created to re-integrate post-Soviet nations, the CIS is an essential part of our foreign policy. Belarus wants to see stronger CIS with more political, economic and cultural integration of all post-Soviet nations. Our trade with nations of the former Soviet Union continues to be increasingly high.

Belarus is constantly seeking for a new formula in post-Soviet integration that would rise to differences emerging within the CIS and offer new options in cooperation among the CIS nations.

Eurasian Economic Community. Set up to unify customs regulations of six post-Soviet countries, EurAsEC is a platform for a more advanced inter-sectoral cooperation. With economic integration as a key pivot of the EurAsEC, larger cooperation is now unfolding in broader areas ranging from social-related areas like education, healthcare and sport, to some aspects of foreign policy.

Collective Security Treaty Organization. A regional security organization, CSTO is an effective instrument of ensuring better security for Belarus and other six post-Soviet member countries. CSTO effectively deals with such common challenges as terrorism, arms proliferation, drug trafficking, and migration.

European Union. EU is naturally a crucial part of our foreign policy. Belarus and EU have many issues to deal with jointly. These are energy and mineral resources transit and supply, crime, environment, as well as regional and cultural partnership.

Our trade with the EU continues to grow with Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, UK, Netherlands, Italy, France and Belgium as our major export markets.

Belarus offers the EU to turn up for a new comprehensive collaboration with a political segment as an integral part of our relations.

United States. Our interest in relations with the US is a truly full-fledged cooperation. Belarus and the United States have both a good experience of cooperation before and good prospects to intensify it. Belarus invites the US to develop relations in all areas of common interest based on mutual respect.

Asia and Africa. Belarusian foreign policy in Asia and Africa sees an intensified cooperation with a string of countries that stems from similar views on most pressing issues of international agenda, as well as largely positive perception of our country in both regions.

Well-established political links with China, India, Viet Nam and other countries in South-East Asia introduce a good platform to scale up our mutual trade. China is our special foreign partner. Relations between the two countries are now clearly strategic with both Belarus and China seeking to deepen cooperation on bilateral and international agendas.

Latin America. Relations with Latin American countries acquired much higher level in recent years with most active Belarus-Venezuela cooperation. Larger political dialogue with major countries in the region, Argentina and Brazil, increasingly stimulates our economic cooperation. Traditionally, Belarus has advanced relations with Cuba.

With deeper relations with countries from Asia, Africa and Latin America, Belarus has turned up to a new much higher level of cooperation with the South.