OREANDA-NEWS  The Russian-Belarusian agreement on mutual recognition of visas may be signed in December this year. This was stated by Russian foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov during his visit to Minsk.

The last round of negotiations on the agreement took place" just a few days ago at the level of delegations", the Belarusian Agency "BelTA" conveyed the Minister's words. "By December 13, when we plan to hold the Union Council of Ministers, we expect to submit this draft agreement for signing," the Minister said.

Negotiations on the conclusion of an agreement on mutual recognition of visas are at the final stage, confirmed RBC press Secretary of the Belarusian foreign Ministry Anatoly Eye. According to him, the last time the working group on this issue met recently. "By the end of the year, they should have already signed," he added.

Diplomats of the two countries started talking about the need to sign the agreement a few years ago, negotiations intensified after Minsk in early 2017 abolished visas for short-term stay in Belarus of citizens of 80 States. After that, by order of the head of the FSB, a border zone was established in Russia on the border with Belarus to prevent the entry into Russia of third-country citizens through the Republic.

Diplomats have repeatedly said in the past that the work on the agreement is almost finished. Foreign Minister of Belarus Vladimir Makei last year expressed the hope that it will be signed before the end of 2017.

On November 14, Governor of Smolensk region Alexey Ostrovsky at a meeting with Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev proposed to create an international checkpoint for foreign citizens on the border with Belarus. The possibility of organizing an international checkpoint for foreign citizens on the border of the Smolensk region in the village of Krasnaya Gorka was discussed. Now there are no international checkpoints on the border of the two countries.