Belarus is a strategic trading partner for Ukraine, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has said.

"The Republic of Belarus is a strategic trading partner for Ukraine. Belarus is Ukraine's fifth largest trading partner in the world," Poroshenko said at the First Forum of the Regions of Ukraine and Belarus in Gomel on Friday.

According to the president, this year the trade turnover between Belarus and Ukraine amounted to $4.5-4.6 billion.

At the same time, Poroshenko expressed hope that trade between the two countries this year would reach $5.3 billion, "at least seven [billion U.S. dollars] next year, and, as we agreed, it should be $10 billion."