Minsk, 2 September 2022 (TDI): The Foreign Minister of Belarus, Vladimir Makei met the Ambassador of Russia to Belarus, Boris Gryzlov, on Friday.
During the meeting, they discussed the current bilateral relations between both countries.
🇧🇾🇷🇺| FM Vladimir #Makei, Ambassador of #Russia discussed current agenda of the Belarusian-Russian bilateral cooperation and interaction within integrational associations @mfa_russia pic.twitter.com/urTgF82YmW
— Belarus MFA 🇧🇾 (@BelarusMFA) September 2, 2022
Further, the Foreign Minister and the Russian Ambassador also discussed the Belarusian-Russian cooperation and interaction with each other in various domains.
Belarus and Russia ties
The two nations make up the supranational Union State and are separated by a land boundary. Russia and Belarus have bilaterally signed a number of treaties. Moreover, Russia is the most significant economic and political partner of Belarus.
Both states are members of the Commonwealth of the Independent States, and the Eurasian Customs Union. Additionally, they are members of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, and the United Nations, among other international organizations.
The strategic alliance between Belarus and Russia is founded on a number of factors. Firstly, their shared geographic position, and secondly, their strong historical and cultural ties are factors of the bilateral cooperation.
Thirdly, their economic ties and corporate collaboration add to the bilateral cooperation. Moreover, both states have had their share of ups and downs which led to certain disputes in the 1990s and 2000s.
But currently, the two countries enjoy a peaceful and developing relationship. Russia is also a major trade partner and export market for Belarus.
In 2021, the trade volume between Russia and Belarus was $40.1Billion. This included $16.4 billion in exports to Russia and $23.7 billion in imports from Russia to Belarus. Belarus has 49 percent of international trade with Russia.
Also, read: Belarus and Syria foster bilateral relations
Belarus’s support in Russia-Ukraine crisis
Russian soldiers were given permission to stage a portion of their invasion of Ukraine from Belarusian soil in February 2022. Belarusian forces could join the invasion if necessary, according to the President of Belarus.
Additionally, Belarus has also declared that Russia is permitted to possess nuclear weapons on its territory.