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Purpose of Russia-Belarus treaty on protecting citizens from external persecution revealed

The leaders also reaffirmed their commitment to the principle of non-interference in the domestic affairs of sovereign states and strongly condemned the intentions of certain countries and regional blocs "to create quasi-legal mechanisms to pressure countries pursuing independent domestic and foreign policies"

MOSCOW, March 13. /TASS/. The agreement between Moscow and Minsk to protect their citizens from unjustified external persecution covers, among other things, issues of officials' immunity, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said in a joint statement adopted after their talks in the Kremlin.

"The heads of state signed an agreement between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus on measures for the mutual protection of citizens from unjustified prosecution by foreign states and international judicial bodies. Under the agreement, the parties intend to jointly combat the negative trend of politicizing international legal cooperation in criminal matters and promote the strengthening of universally recognized norms of international law relating to the sovereign equality of states and the immunities of state officials arising from it," the statement says.

Putin and Lukashenko also reaffirmed their commitment to the principle of non-interference in the domestic affairs of sovereign states and strongly condemned the intentions of certain countries and regional blocs "to create quasi-legal mechanisms to pressure countries pursuing independent domestic and foreign policies."

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