MOSCOW, April 17. /TASS/. The change of the Union State Secretary is only a natural rotation, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, commenting on the news on the appointment of Sergey Glazyev as State Secretary of the Union State of Russia and Belarus.

"The Union State is developing smoothly and steadily. It represents the most advanced form of integration throughout the former Soviet Union. Undoubtedly, it benefits the peoples of the two countries, the peoples of Russia and Belarus <…>. As for personnel changes, this is a rotation procedure, it is only natural," Peskov said.

He also noted that the Union State "does not exist in a vacuum," but is, despite all the "well-known illegal restrictions" imposed on the two countries, "a constituent part of the global economic process." "Therefore, of course, it is affected by the trends that prevail worldwide or the turbulence that we are witnessing now," the Kremlin spokesman emphasized.

Earlier, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko announced that Glazyev would be appointed State Secretary of the Union State of Russia and Belarus. Glazyev currently serves as Deputy State Secretary. Dmitry Mezentsev, who previously held the position, has been appointed Plenipotentiary Representative of the Russian President to the Constitutional Court.