President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, said on February 12 that he plans to pay an official visit to Georgia this year to “seriously talk” about bilateral relations.

Responding to a question from Georgian journalists in Minsk, Lukashenko said: “Yes, I am going to [visit] Georgia; I have an official visit. We, together with the Georgian leadership, were delaying and delaying it [visit] all the time, but now we decided that we have to meet this year and seriously talk about bilateral relations with our close people.”

About Lukashenko’s planned visit to Georgia, tentatively in April, was first reported earlier this month after a meeting of bilateral governmental commission in Minsk. The Georgian delegation was led by agriculture minister Otar Danelia. A protocol on economic cooperation, among others also involving commitment to keep free trade treaty between the two countries, was signed, according to the Georgian Foreign Ministry.