MOSCOW, 17 January (BelTA) – The Belarus-Russia Union State, the Collective Security Treaty Organization, the Eurasian Economic Union and the Commonwealth of Independent States remain priorities of Russia's foreign policy, Sergey Lavrov, Russia's Acting Foreign Minister, told a press conference for Russian and foreign journalists on 17 January, BelTA has learned.
“A traditional priority is strengthening relations with partners in the Eurasian space, first of all, within the framework of the CSTO, the Union State, the CIS and the Eurasian Economic Union,” Sergey Lavrov said.
He welcomed progress in Eurasian integration, including expansion of external links of the Eurasian Economic Union. “A free trade area agreement was signed with Vietnam. It was followed by a FTA with Singapore and Serbia last year. The agreement on trade and economic cooperation with the People's Republic of China came into force the same year, as well as the tentative agreement with Iran. Talks are underway with Israel and Egypt. A decision was made to embark on negotiations with India,” Sergey Lavrov said.
