MOSCOW, 12 April (BelTA) – Belarus and Russia are likeminded partners on the international arena, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said at the inaugural conference of the Association of Foreign Policy Studies named after Andrei Gromyko that took place in Moscow on 12 April, BelTA has learned.
“This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Union State. It is particularly important that over this period we have managed to build efficient bilateral foreign policy coordination. Today Moscow and Minsk are allies and likeminded partners on the international arena, consistent supporters of the Eurasian integration and formation of the equal and undivided security architecture in the Euro-Atlantic region,” he said. He expressed confidence that the joint efforts of the two countries serve inherent interests of the fraternal nations and help promote regional stability.
Sergei Lavrov welcomed Belarus' active participation in the inaugural conference of the Association of Foreign Policy Studies. “I have no doubts that the association will make a meaningful contribution to the expert and analytical support of integration processes in the Union State, the Eurasian Economic Union and other integration projects on the post-Soviet space,” Sergei Lavrov noted.
Taking part in the inaugural conference were Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Belarus to Russia Vladimir Semashko, State Secretary of the Union State Grigory Rapota, Chairman of the International Affairs and National Security Commission of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of Belarus Sergei Rakhmanov, heads of academic institutions, university heads and leading scientists and experts from Belarus and Russia.
The initiative to set up the association was timed to the 110th anniversary of Andrei Gromyko, a Belarus-born diplomat who was Minister of Foreign Affairs of the USSR for 28 years and who made a significant contribution to the formation of the post-war system of international relations. The participants of the inaugural conference also discussed preparations for the first high-level expert session of the association that will be held during the 6th Forum of Regions of Belarus and Russia in Saint Petersburg in July.
