Opinions & Interviews

Mezentsev: Belarus, Russia should cooperate more closely today, amid external pressure

MINSK, 26 March (BelTA) - In today's conditions, given the external pressure  Belarus and Russia should cooperate more closely and combine efforts, outgoing Russian Ambassador Dmitry Mezentsev, who was appointed the State Secretary of the Union State of Belarus and Russia, told reporters after the meeting with the Belarusian president in Minsk on 26 March, BelTA has learned.

According to him, during the conversation  similar opinion was voiced on the need to look for new formats of economic integration, to re-assign a great number of plans and projects to the Union State. One example of such projects may be the development of a remote sensing satellite of the Earth with unique specifications, on which Belarus and Russia are working today.

Dmitry Mezentsev stressed that much has been done in the Union State. "But in today’s context, given the external pressure, Western sanctions, we need to be more effective, more competitive. In part because the world will be a tougher place post-COVID 19 and major countries who want to return their positions and strengthen them will probably pay little attention to what others want. In this regard, joining efforts within the Union State, the EAEU, strengthening cooperation within the CIS is the only possible efficient response to the pressure we are expecting. Not political, but economic," he is convinced.

When asked to assess the results of his work as the head of the Russian diplomatic mission in Belarus, Dmitry Mezentsev said that "it is not quite correct to evaluate your own work." "But once again I want to say that the embassy, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and all federal Russian agencies did everything possible to bring us closer to each other," he said.

"You know that there were economic disputes (between Belarus and Russia). But today we see a different level of cooperation and willingness to hear each other's arguments. Not to achieve some immediate goals regarding the sale of a product, supply of petroleum products or other goods for the sake of near-term gains. Today we are talking about a deeper strategy of cooperation," Dmitry Mezentsev added.

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