MOSCOW, 9 November (BelTA) – Belarus and Russia are working on mutual recognition of COVID-19 vaccination certificates, Ambassador of Belarus to Russia Vladimir Semashko said at the expert meeting “Russian-Belarusian relations in 2021: Union State programs, new challenges, and integration directions” on 9 November, BelTA has learned.
“We are now reconciling a mechanism of mutual recognition of COVID-19 vaccination certificates,” Vladimir Semashko said.
He thanked Russia for lifting restrictions on international air travel between Belarus and Russia. “I know that this process is going on at a faster pace when it comes to Belarus compared with other states,” the ambassador noted. “In fact, today bilateral passenger air traffic makes up about 85% of the pre-pandemic level. Rail travel bounced back to recover almost completely. We are waiting for a decision on resumption of travel between Minsk and Murmansk and Arkhangelsk. It remains to lift the ban on travel by private vehicles,” the diplomat added.
The expert meeting “Russian-Belarusian relations in 2021: Union State programs, new challenges, and integration directions” was organized by the A.A. Gromyko Association for Foreign Policy Studies. The event took place using videoconference technologies and premises of the Institute of Europe of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Representatives of Belarusian and Russian government agencies, agencies of the Union State of Belarus and Russia, Belarusian and Russian experts took part in it. They discussed three areas: this year's results in Belarusian-Russian relations, top-priority tasks concerning the realization of Union State programs, and integration beyond the framework of Union State programs, in particular, what needs to be done within the next 2-3 years.
