Negotiations with Kenyan President William Ruto

Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko held talks with Kenyan President William Ruto on 10 December.

"I would like to thank you for the cordial invitation and opportunity to meet with you at this hour. The hour is late. We agreed in Dubai that we would meet and discuss our first steps to establish trade, economic and closer political relations," the Belarusian leader said at the beginning of the meeting.

According to him, now it is important to map out the areas of further cooperation and draw up a specific plan of action. "Since we want to cooperate, I am sure that we will be able to develop such a plan, a roadmap, as we have done with other countries of the African continent," the Belarusian president said.

"Mr. President, if we come to an agreement, we will quickly go this way. Because your country holds a very important strategic position in Africa. You largely determine the policy of the African continent. The president of Equatorial Guinea told me about this," Aleksandr Lukashenko said.

Taking into account the fact that a decision was made at the highest level to intensify bilateral relations, the head of state suggests that groups of specialists from Belarus and Kenya exchange visits, get to know the countries better to prepare a concrete action plan for the development of cooperation.

Aleksandr Lukashenko invited his Kenyan counterpart to visit Belarus. "I will be glad to see you at any time. I hope that you will find time to visit Minsk in the first half of next year," he said.

For his part, William Ruto, on behalf of all the people of Kenya, welcomed Aleksandr Lukashenko to Kenya. "We are very glad that you found the time to visit us. I understand that the visit will be short-term, but nevertheless it is no less cordial on our part. This is not an official visit. Nevertheless, it gives us the opportunity to plan an official visit. We are very glad that you found the time to visit us and be with us today," he said.

The Kenyan leader recalled that during the meeting at the Global Climate Summit in Dubai, the heads of state agreed on the need to intensify contacts between Belarus and Kenya. "We agreed that we will jointly look at our opportunities and areas where we could cooperate, and build relations on the basis that we have created between our two countries," William Ruto said.

After the talks in Nairobi Aleksandr Lukashenko left a message in the guest book.

“Minsk is interested in strengthening cooperation with Nairobi in a wide range of areas, primarily in trade and investment. I am confident that our countries have a great future. I wish the president of Kenya happiness and health, and also prosperity and wellbeing to the friendly Kenyan people,” the president's entry reads.

Aleksandr Lukashenko added a phrase in Belarusian: “Thank you very much and see you soon!”

At the end of the one-on-one meeting, the president of Kenya invited his Belarusian counterpart to dinner.