Pushilin comments on his visit to Minsk, meeting with Lukashenko

"Today is the time of thinking about the horizons that will open before us in a year, in two years, after the end of the special military operation. We need to explore the things in advance. I brought a number of advisers and ministers who will work on the issues that we discussed with Aleksandr Grigoryevich in more practical terms," Denis Pushilin said.

Describing the overall situation in the region, he said that there are indeed a number of difficulties. Shelling is ongoing, including on the residential areas, including Donetsk itself. "But it is not only shelling that characterizes the current situation in the DPR. We have a large number of residents. We have to think in other categories, in terms of peaceful construction. The war will end after all the goals of the special military operation are achieved. I would like this to happen as soon as possible. But right now we need to map out the plans, to place accents on how Donbass will develop further," he said.

All of these topics, according to him, were discussed at the meeting with the Belarusian president. "We also talked about the military situation, about what is happening on the ground. But we also talked about the next stage – post-war recovery. This is about creation. It was important for us to identify points of contact, mutually beneficial points of interaction. In fact, we have them," Denis Pushilin said. Cooperation with Belarus in agriculture and industry will be important for the region, he said. In particular, there is interest in spare parts and maintenance for the BelAZ rock haulers that are already in service in the Donbass and also in the supply of new units of Belarusian equipment. MAZ products will also be in demand. In turn, the DPR can supply kaolin clay to Belarus. "Cooperation may be mutually beneficial. There is something we can work on," the acting head of the DPR emphasized.