MINSK, 15 April (BelTA) – Belarus and Russia have advanced their relations to a very high level in all the areas, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Russia to Belarus Boris Gryzlov said as he met with Chairman of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belarus Vladimir Andreichenko, BelTA has learned.
“It should be noted that Belarus-Russia relations have advanced to a very high level in all the areas. You spoke about voting at various international inter-parliamentary platforms. Representatives of Russia and Belarus always vote the same way in the United Nations and many international organizations. Our positions are not even similar, they are the same. I would like to draw attention to the fact that the leaders of our countries have met several times recently. Aleksandr Lukashenko visited the Far East the other day. And the fact that the president of Belarus was at the Vostochny Cosmodrome and discussed the use of best practices of Belarusian builders in the construction of the cosmodrome is very important,” Boris Gryzlov said.
According to him, representatives of Russian regions visit Belarus very often. “They come to discuss cooperation in the field of manufacturing, culture, sports. Since I started working here two months ago, five delegations of Russian regions have already visited Belarus. They were from the Republic of Tyva, St. Petersburg, Krasnodar Krai, Penza Oblast. A delegation led by the Voronezh Oblast governor is arriving at the end of April. These visits are not only a token of good relations. These visits are meant to boost trade. Last year, the trade between Russia and Belarus reached $40 billion. It keeps growing. It is important that in the face of the sanctions imposed by the collective West led by the United States, we find opportunities to replace imports, our enterprises offer cooperation projects to Belarusian enterprises. Belarusian enterprises compile lists of products that they want to buy in the Russian Federation as part of the import substitution effort. This is a very important area of work and it will help us get rid of foreign component parts in the production of our products during this year and possibly half of next year,” the ambassador said.
Boris Gryzlov added: “This will only strengthen us. It will strengthen both Belarus and Russia.”
