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Russia-Belarus agreement on mutual visa recognition ready to be signed by presidents

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in April he hoped the two countries would sign this agreement in the near future and noted that Moscow was waiting for a relevant signal from Minsk

MOSCOW, June 1. /TASS/. A draft agreement on mutual recognition of visas in Russia and Belarus is ready for signing by the presidents, Grigory Rapota, Secretary of the Union State of Russia and Belarus, told TASS on Monday.

"Each participant in the process has his own task. Heads of state and government are tasked to make political and major economic decisions. Our task is to do preparatory work, to draft a legally-correct document, to agree it with all ministries and agencies and submit it to the supreme political level. We have done our job and are now waiting for the decisions," he said.

When asked whether such factors as the coronavirus pandemic could impact the signing of the agreement on mutual visa recognition, he said he would refrain from anticipating when it would be done.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in April he hoped the two countries would sign this agreement in the near future and noted that Moscow was waiting for a relevant signal from the Belarusian side.

Moscow and Minsk were originally expected to sign the intergovernmental agreement on mutual visa recognition in December 2018, at a meeting of the Union State Council of Ministers in Brest. But the document was not signed because the Belarusian side said it needed time to complete certain domestic procedures before the signing.

Under the draft agreement, foreign citizens who have Belarusian visas will be able to enter Russia and vice versa, holders of Russian visas will be allowed to enter Belarus.

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