In a Thursday meeting with St. Petersburg Gov. Georgy Poltavchenko, Belarus President Alezander Lukashenko said he sees positive trade trends forming between his country and the Russian city.

Lukashenko said trade between Belarus and St, Petersburg amounted to $1.9 billion in 2013 and predicted it would reach $2 billion by the end of this year. In the nine-month report, there was a 9 percent increase in trade this year through September, Lukashenko said he hopes this trend will continue into the future.

“It is good that we have made the transition from direct trade to the creation of joint projects, primarily in the sphere of manufacturing cooperation. It is an important direction, and we will support it,” he said.

Lukashenko said these recent successful trade efforts with St. Petersburg can be used as a model that other regions and nations can use to strengthen or forge trade relations with Russia.

Poltavchenko said he wanted to bring attention to how well Belarus treats war veterans, similar to how they're treated in St. Petersburg.