MOSCOW, February 26. /TASS/. The treaty on security guarantees within the Union State of Russia and Belarus is vital in the current geopolitical situation, Valentina Matviyenko, speaker of Russia’s Federation Council (upper house of parliament), stated.

"Given the current geopolitical situation, the treaty is certainly vital. It is very important and greatly needed," the senate speaker said at a plenary session considering the ratification of the document.

Matviyenko added that a lot of work had been done to prepare and finalize the treaty.

Earlier on Wednesday, the Federation Council passed a law ratifying the Russian-Belarusian treaty, which had been signed in Minsk on December 6, 2024. Under the document, the parties agree to support each other using all the agreed ways and means that are authorized by international law, as well as to taking the necessary steps in political, military, and other fields in case of infringement on the security of any of the parties and the Union State as a whole.

The treaty states that Russia’s nuclear weapons can be used in response to the use of nuclear weapons or any kind of weapons of mass destruction against any of the parties, as well as to an act of aggression against any of the parties, which involves conventional arms but creates a severe threat to that country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.