A. Lukashenko: Belarus and Russia have withstood external pressure and are becoming stronger

The Union State is a priority for Belarus. Alexander Lukashenko and Vladimir Putin chaired a meeting of the Supreme State Council. The leaders of Belarus and Russia discussed the bilateral agenda by video link before the meeting.

Alexander Lukashenko noted that various challenges and threats for our countries and unabated global pandemic that have disrupted the schedule of regular meetings of the leaderships of both countries. Nevertheless, it did not affect the quality of interaction! The countries are implementing a number of large projects, particularly, in the fields of atomic energy and space exploration. Economic statistics are also encouraging. The volume of the Union trade has grown by more than 1/3rd and reached 28 billion dollars for 9 months. Close cooperation between countries stands out in the field of defense. Belarus confirms the desire to expand integration with Russia.

Alexander Lukashenko, President of Belarus:
Unprecedented external pressure has become a serious test of strength for relations between our countries. It can be stated with confidence that we have passed this test. Moreover, we are getting stronger. As recent events have shown, the regional grouping of the alliance's forces is a reliable security shield not only for our countries, but also for the entire post-Soviet space. The President and I do not hide our intentions to strengthen this structure in the future. All of us, to one degree or another, are aware of the need to further move forward along the Union’s strategy. This ensures the protection of the interests of Belarus and Russia in the global space. In fact, we are starting to reboot the joint economic space. It involves the introduction of modern technologies, decision-making methods, the result of this work should be the formation of a qualitatively new environment for the turnover of goods and services, the creation of united industry markets, the implementation of uniform financial, tax, credit, industrial and other policies. Cooperation of government bodies should be brought to a new level, solving issues of bilateral relations as a matter of priority, taking into account mutual interests. At the same time, I want to warn governments against delving into theory. We must see the practical return on the decisions we make.

Alexander Lukashenko signed an integration decree approving allied programs with Russia during the meeting today. The document was previously signed by Vladimir Putin. The programs clearly describe the mechanisms of development of a single economic space. According to the estimates of the Belarusian side, only the effect of the implementation of the integration package for us predicts the GDP growth by about one billion dollars, not to mention additional opportunities for Belarusian business in the Russian market.