OREANDA-NEWS. June 10, 2009. Esteemed colleagues, We have held thorough talks with Sergey Martynov and discussed key issues in Russia-Belarus relations and our cooperation in international affairs.

The present visit of Sergey Nikolayevich to Moscow comes under our earlier reached agreement to further strengthen cooperation and to intensify contacts between our ministries. Dialogue between the ministries of foreign affairs of Russia and Belarus proceeds regularly, covering practically all foreign policy problems. Our 2008-2009 Joint Action Program on foreign policy envisions just such daily collaboration.

Russia and Belarus offer mutual support in international organizations and defend the interests of each other on the world scene. Our close and trustful consultations on all aspects of global and regional issues have become a good tradition. The foreign ministries’ collegiums annually meet in joint session. Preparations were discussed today for the next session to be held in Minsk this upcoming November.

Discussions touched on the basic parameters for new concerted actions in foreign policy for the years 2010-2011, which we expect to endorse at the upcoming session of the two collegiums and to submit for approval by the Supreme State Council.

An exchange of views took place regarding further European security-related actions, and generally on all aspects of pan-European cooperation. Russia has put forth a number of initiatives on this score: the proposal to craft a Euro-Atlantic Security Treaty and the ideas for new approaches to the international legal basis of energy cooperation. Belarus, naturally, has its own interests on all these issues, which are similarly oriented as those of Russia.

We agreed to discuss cooperation of our countries more substantively during the upcoming discussions at the pan-European level. We are interested in having our partners and allies involved in the work of diverse international entities. This concerns the European continent, where Belarus received observer status in the Council of the Baltic Sea States with our active support the other day. We stand for a full-fledged return of Belarus to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and welcome the steps being taken toward this end by Strasbourg and Minsk. It concerns not only the European continent. Next week’s summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) will consider the recommendation to grant the Republic of Belarus the status of a SCO Dialogue Partner.

Overall, our meeting has borne out the two states’ mutual disposition to deepen their foreign policy coordination. I am certain that this meets the interests of our states and peoples. We will be working in this direction.

Question:  Significant changes have become apparent in the global agenda recently. How will they impact the strategy for Russia-Belarus cooperation in the area of foreign policy?

Foreign Minister Lavrov:  Any cooperation between two states, including such close allies as Russia and Belarus, is not in a vacuum, but in regional and global spaces. Today many factors occurring on this level influence all states and our countries are no exception. They are the world financial and economic crisis and the unsettledness of European architecture problems, not just in the realm of military-political security, but also in the energy sphere, and many other things. Well known are the processes of globalization, and the fears that in the framework of the crisis they might transform themselves into processes of de-globalization – all of this has to be taken into account in our work. Undoubtedly, taking full account of what is occurring around us in Europe and the world, our states are guided primarily by their national interests that basically coincide in our case and which the accords taken at summit level in the framework of the Supreme State Council and by the joint sessions of the collegiums of the two ministries on the Council’s instruction aim to realize by combined efforts to achieve maximum effect.

This is a complex job, but, I will repeat it, we’ve got a very good basis to carry it on effectively.

Question:  How could you comment upon the words of Belarusian President Lukashenko in an interview with Russian media on the question of recognizing South Ossetia and Abkhazia by Belarus: “It has reached the point where they came and said: if you do recognize them, US\\$500 million is yours. Well, you know, we refuse to ‘sell’ any issues or positions. We never did, nor ever will. We will decide this issue ourselves.”

Foreign Minister Lavrov:  We aren’t asking anybody to recognize South Ossetia and Abkhazia. That this issue will be considered in accordance with Belarusian legislation, Belarusian leaders have said themselves. We treat with full respect the constitutional procedures of the Republic of Belarus and have never linked this theme to issues of practical cooperation of our states, as, strictly speaking, of any other states.

If, however, you speak of linkages, others did them, publicly and quite toughly. I mean, in particular, the statements that came in their time from the lips of the official representatives of the European Union, who, in fact, directly made inviting the Republic of Belarus into the Eastern Partnership contingent upon refusal to recognize South Ossetia and Abkhazia. To these statements bordering on threats, we did not hear a reaction.

I am convinced that in relations between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus, as between partners and allies, we should and will act like partners, will not succumb to all manner of emotions, conjunctural considerations and will work together in the interests of our two brother peoples. It was in this vein that all the issues we told you about were discussed today.

Question:  We know that there are some differences between Russia and Belarus at present. For example, Russia has imposed new sanctions against milk products from Belarus. Do you think this evidences a worsening of relations between Russia and Belarus?

Foreign Minister Lavrov:  I ask you to inform your readers accurately. The Russian Federation has not imposed any sanctions against the Republic of Belarus. Russia has had new regulations since last December that describe the quality of milk products and determine in what packaging and with what information for buyers these products are to be sold in the Russian market. This concerns, by the way, all exporters who send their products to Russia, as well as all producers of milk products inside the country. 

I don’t think it’s exactly correct to call that decision “sanctions.” The measure has been prompted solely by care for our consumers’ health. This matter was touched on at the present talks and both sides attested that it must be tackled between the relevant agencies of our states. The Belarus Agriculture Ministry is aware of this situation and does not deny the necessity of fulfilling these regulations. Let us proceed from this. Anyway, on the two ministries’ level we are interested in seeing experts deal with this technical problem and do so in an effective way.