Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko said on Tuesday that his country was ready to develop relations with the United States as equal partners.

"Belarus is interested in open and constructive dialogue with the United States that will heed (the two countries') interests and will be based on the principles of equality and mutual respect," Lukashenko told the new US Ambassador to Belarus, Karen Stewart, the Interfax news agency reported.

"The differences in views on a number of problems should not stand in the way of steps to bolster joint efforts in areas where our approaches coincide," he said.

Lukashenko said that he hoped Stewart, whom the president credited with knowing Belarus well and having extensive experience, would help broaden "mutually beneficial and respectful relations between our countries."

The United States is the biggest source of foreign investment in Belarus. Trade with the United States accounts for about 3 percent of Belarus' foreign trade.

(Xinhua News Agency October 25, 2006)