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Russia, Belarus FMs to discuss broader integration in CIS, ties

The ministers will meet at a joint meeting of the collegiums of the Foreign Ministries

MOSCOW, October 31 (Itar-Tass) —— Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his visiting Belarussian counterpart Sergei Martynov will discuss broader integration process in the CIS states and bilateral cooperation here on Monday. The ministers will meet at a joint meeting of the collegiums of the Foreign Ministries.

The ministries are expected to approve a foreign political cooperation program for 2012-2013. This cooperation program will be put up for approval by the Supreme State Council of the Union State in late November - early December 2011.

The ministers will focus on broader integration processes in the CIS states. This issue became particularly topical recently in the light of Kyrgyzstan’s bid to join the Customs Union and the creation of the Common Economic Space. Russian-Belarussian cooperation on the international scene and interregional ties are on the bilateral agenda.

The ministers will also discuss the Belarussian economic situation. They will focus attention on the problems of cooperation in the fuel and energy sector.

Russia and Belarus are developing military-technical cooperation and the ties in the struggle against organized crime and terrorism, new challenges and threats in the CIS states. In this respect the ministers will discuss the run-up to a CSTO summit due in December.

Upcoming contacts on the top level are also on the agenda. The leaders of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan will meet in the second half of November in Moscow.

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