NUCLEAR POWER IN BELARUS AND WORLDWIDE
MOSCOW, 16 May (BelTA) - Russia values its brotherly relations with Belarus, Speaker of the Federation Council of the Russian Federal Assembly Valentina Matviyenko said as she met with Belarusian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Aleinik in Moscow on 16 May, BelTA has learned.
“For Russia (and you know this very well, but it bears repeating) the Republic of Belarus is the closest ally, its strategic partner. We highly appreciate our brotherly relations. We are building the Union State together, and together we face new challenges and threats,” Valentina Matviyenko said.
In her words, multifaceted cooperation between Belarus and Russia is developing in a variety of areas: trade and economy, investment, inter-parliamentary, interregional, humanitarian, cultural, and other areas. “Our presidents are in constant contact; they set the tone for the development of Russian-Belarusian relations and determine the agenda for our cooperation. The visit of Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko to Russia to participate in the celebrations in honor of our common victory was a landmark event,” the speaker stressed.
“For the Federation Council, the priority task is legislative support of agreements reached at the highest level. We are happy that we have established very constructive working relations with the National Assembly of Belarus, the Council of the Republic of Belarus. We have lined up very interesting formats of cooperation,” Valentina Matviyenko added. She sent her greetings to her Belarusian counterpart Natalya Kochanova.
The speaker of the Federation Council also expressed her gratitude to the Belarusian side for the coordinated work at international and inter-parliamentary platforms and joint efforts against attempts of the collective West to politicize these platforms. Valentina Matviyenko praised the effective work of the Belarusian lawmakers at the platform of the CIS Inter-Parliamentary Assembly.
“I am confident that your visit will give a new impetus to our integration processes,” the speaker of the Federation Council said.
Sergei Aleinik is on an official visit to Moscow on 15-17 May at the invitation of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. On 16 May, he also held a meeting with Speaker of the Russian State Duma Vyacheslav Volodin. Talks between the foreign ministers of Belarus and Russia are scheduled for 17 May.
