Łukašenka calls for joint plan to build up Russian-led bloc

June 20, BPN. Alaksandr Łukašenka has called on the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) to draft a joint action plan “primarily in economy” that would unite all members of the Russian-led security bloc, according to his press office.

One of the plan’s key goals is to make the bloc independent of foreign supplies, he told the CSTO foreign ministers who came to Minsk for a council meeting.

“We must survive. We must determine what we can produce at home,” Łukašenka said. “We can produce almost everything, 90 percent, buying the 10 percent until we get away from dependence on imports.”

He said Belarus and Russia were “close” to devising this plan.

Analysts say the CSTO faces a crisis because of disagreements among its members.