Opinions & Interviews

FM: Belarus-Russia relations rest on bonds of brotherhood, alliance and strategic partnership

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MOSCOW, 16 May (BelTA) - Relations between Belarus and Russia are based on the bonds of brotherhood, alliance and strategic partnership, Belarusian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Aleinik said as he met with Chairwoman of the Federation Council of the Russian Federal Assembly Valentina Matviyenko in Moscow on 16 May, BelTA has learned.

Sergei Aleinik described the bilateral Belarusian-Russian relations as unique. “They are based on the bonds of brotherhood, alliance and strategic partnership. In today's difficult political conditions the strategic partnership between our countries is confirmed by a high frequency of contacts carried out at various levels. Of course, the main impetus is given by our leaders, because open, trusting relations between the heads of state help us find solutions to the fundamentally important issues that contribute to strengthening and expanding our integration ties,” he said.

The minister praised a significant increase in bilateral cooperation at the intergovernmental, inter-parliamentary, ministerial and interdepartmental levels. He especially emphasized interregional cooperation: “This is very important, a serious area for our work, which complements everything we do at the intergovernmental level. Last year alone over 200 visits were arranged by representatives of Russian regions and Belarus, and it was a fairly balanced number - 105 visits on the part of Russia and 98 visits on the part of Belarusian regions. This helps us build brand new forms of economic cooperation, solve import substitution programs, and use the resource base, which has not yet been fully involved in the bilateral trade, economic and investment turnover. Naturally, we aim to develop all this multilevel, multifaceted cooperation between our countries.”

“In general, if we talk about the trade and economic cooperation between our countries, the dynamics of the last year and a half inspires very serious optimism, because we managed to increase the total trade by 22% in the first quarter of this year,” the Belarusian minister of foreign affairs said.

Sergei Aleinik is in Russia on an official visit on 15-17 May. In Moscow, he is scheduled to hold talks with Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matviyenko and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

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