Joint meeting of the Collegium of the Foreign Ministry of Belarus and the Collegium of the Foreign Ministry of Russia

On January 19, 2023 Minsk hosted an annual joint meeting of the Collegium of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Belarus and the Collegium of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation under the chairmanship of the Foreign Ministers of the two countries Sergei Aleinik and Sergey Lavrov.

The participants of the meeting considered in detail the state and prospects for the development of Belarusian-Russian cooperation, taking into account the qualitative changes in the global and regional international situation. A number of practical aspects of cooperation between the Foreign Ministries were discussed with an emphasis on the tasks set by the Presidents of the two countries in the economic and political spheres, and developing integration formats.

Special attention was paid to further strengthening cooperation on multilateral platforms in the face of unprecedented pressure from the West. The sides agreed on the exceptional importance of the topic of arms control in the current conditions. The parties agreed to coordinate activity regarding international structures.

The sides reviewed in detail the progress in implementing the Program of Coordinated Actions in the Field of Foreign Policy of the States Parties to the Treaty on the Establishment of the Union State for 2022-2023. The effectiveness of this work and the special importance of this tool in the context of a confidence crisis in international relations and segmentation of the global world order were noted.

During the one-on-one meeting of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, issues of foreign policy planning, promotion of trade and economic cooperation between the two countries, including in the interregional aspect, were discussed. The parties "compared notes" regarding the current international agenda. The Belarusian side noted the importance of Russia's support for Belarus' accession to the SCO as a full-fledged member.

The participants of the joint meeting got acquainted with the exhibition "A Uniform for a Hero", dedicated to the 210th Anniversary of the victory in the Patriotic War of 1812, prepared by the famous Belarusian collector, laureate of the Prize of the President of the Republic of Belarus "For Spiritual Revival" Vladimir Lihodedov and the National Historical Museum of the Republic of Belarus. 

On the sidelines of the event, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia S.Lavrov presented V.Lihodedov with the Order of Friendship of the Russian Federation for his services in strengthening cooperation between the peoples of the two countries.

As a result of the meeting, a number of significant documents were signed, namely the Resolution of the joint meeting of the Collegium of the Foreign Ministries and the Plan of Ministerial Consultations, Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of the Republic of Belarus and the Government of the Russian Federation on issues of ensuring biological safety.

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