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Belarus, Russia agree on integration concept — Belarusian minister

The minister pointed out that the proposals would be discussed as part of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko's visit to Russia

© Valeriy Sharifulin/TASS

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MINSK, July 17. /TASS/. Minsk and Russia have agreed on the key areas of the development of integration processes within the Union State of Belarus and Russia, Belarusian Economy Minister Dmitry Krutoi said on Wednesday.

"I think the concept of our future activities has been agreed upon for the most part," Krutoi, who co-chairs a Russian-Belarusian intergovernmental working group, said, as cited by the BelTA news agency.

According to Krutoi, the group’s initiatives will be discussed during Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko’s current visit to Russia. "A package of initiatives has been worked out to submit to the president. The working group considered the options that the heads of state exchanged in May," the Belarusian economy minister noted.

Lukashenko stated earlier that the intergovernmental working group on integration had failed to achieve specific results. The Belarusian president said at his July 9 meeting with State Secretary of the Union State Grigory Rapota that "attempts are being made to hinder these processes for no apparent reason."

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