MOSCOW, August 12. /TASS/. Belarus and Russia are ready to expand economic cooperation and work on further integration, State Secretary of the Union State of Russia and Belarus Dmitry Mezentsev told TASS commenting on the results of the meeting of the High-Level Group of the Council of Ministers of the Union State on Monday.
"The practice of interaction between the parties, the work on the Union State programs, previously - Roadmaps, confirm the readiness to expand cooperation on the economic and integration agenda, to avoid a number of disputes and discussions in favor of a practical solution taking into account the interests of both parties. It is important to note that a special, in its own way unique, experience has been accumulated since December 2018, when republican and federal ministries and departments, expert community, the governments of our two countries under the leadership of Mikhail Mishustin and Roman Golovchenko have shown the success of the mutual dialogue on the most acute, most significant issues of economic interaction," he said.
At the same time, Mezentsev stressed that the deepening of integration between the two countries in no way affects their sovereignty. "This does not mean that in some way joint steps will lead to a decrease in the level of independence or sovereignty of our states. As Russian President Vladimir Putin said, the Union State is a format, a formula for the integration that is in demand today by the Belarusian and Russian sides. This is a response to the demands of the times and, in particular, to the unlawful, unjustified pressure of sanctions that Russia and Belarus are experiencing only because they want to pursue an independent policy, without being subjected to any pressure," he said, adding "Neither official Minsk nor official Moscow agree with this and they will not follow this path."
The meeting participants discussed a wide range of topics, including mutual recognition of documents on vaccination against the coronavirus, the use of national payment systems of the two countries, and issues between telecom operators as part of the process of canceling roaming between Russia and Belarus. They also discussed interaction in digital document management, microelectronics, and other areas.