MOSCOW, June 29. /TASS/. Russia and Belarus are facing pressure from Western sanctions, but the potentials accumulated by the two countries will help them to surmount it, Viktor Sorokin, Russian Foreign Ministry’s special representative for issues of the Russia-Belarus Union State told an online forum of Russian and Belarusian regions on Tuesday.

"It is no secret that our two sovereign states are facing severe pressure today from the so-called collective West, which is doing everything to prevent our states from putting into practice their colossal economic, intellectual, scientific and industrial potentials," Sorokin said.

"Only recently, we have seen not only the confirmation of the sanctions in place, but also the introduction of absolutely illegal and ill-considered new sanctions both against Russia, and against the Republic of Belarus over the past few days," he stressed.

"I would like to emphasize that the sanctions that they are now trying to slap on Russia and Belarus are aimed not only at undermining our economic and financial potential, but they also aim to strip our countries of the chance to develop our science, our technologies, to have access to new developments that appear today in many countries," the envoy stressed.

"But we are confident that the historical, scientific, and technological potential of Russia and Belarus allows us to properly get out of this situation and to do everything so that the Union State - the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus - effectively develop their economy, their financial system and build up their scientific potentials," he went on to say.

Active work towards this continues, and the countries have certain things they can boast of, the Foreign Ministry envoy said, citing science and technology programs as well as innovation programs among them.

He also mentioned the implementation of a major project for the construction of a nuclear power plant in Belarus as a major incentive towards deepening sci-tech cooperation.

Sorokin also spoke of the special importance of developing cooperation in the field of medical science, and medical and pharmaceutical education amid the coronavirus pandemic.