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Unification of Russia and Belarus into one state not on agenda, says Putin

MOSCOW, June 20./TASS/. The question of unification of Russia and Belarus into one state is not on the agenda, there is only a matter of creating a Union state, Vladimir Putin said at his annual televised Q&A session on Thursday.

"We are not talking about the unification into one state", the president stressed answering the question. " We are talking about implementing the treaty that was signed long ago - the Treaty on the Creation of a so-called Union State of Russia and Belarus. This is not the same thing", Putin clarified. "At the same time, this treaty has many uniting elements up to creation of a union parliament and launching a common currency.

"We have agreed with President Lukashenko that we will get back to that Treaty and have a closer look at what else we need to implement and what needs to be corrected", the president said. "Experts on the deputy prime ministers’ level are tackling the issue at present". "A lot has been achieved in the social sphere as well in terms of free movement of people and goods, and mutual social guarantees", Putin pointed out. "In my opinion, however, this is not enough. We must do more".