Belarus and Russia plan to launch cross-border railway services within a few months. This was stated by Alyaksandr Lukashenka while speaking at a meeting of the Supreme State Council of the Union State.
He also said there was a “vital necessity to develop relations of alliance and strategic partnership” between the two countries.
“The geopolitical configuration objectively sets before us the task of being ready to respond jointly to any challenges. The practical implementation of the Treaty on Security Guarantees within the framework of the Union State has begun. In December, as we agreed, the Oreshnik missile system went on combat duty in Belarus.
We work in a coordinated manner in foreign policy. The signing today of the Directive on Mutual Support and Cooperation in the Field of International Justice will be an important step in protecting common interests, the inviolability of international law and its institutions,” Lukashenka said.
In his view, the economy should be the main focus of attention.
“The global trading system is being blocked, bent and broken to suit certain interests through the introduction of prohibitive tariffs, technological and energy blockades, currency pressure and piracy on logistics routes. Some countries are not allowed to export oil, others are not allowed to import it — they try not to allow it. If the leaders of the multipolar world — China and Russia — are at least somewhat feared, then unprecedented pressure is being exerted on their allies. In just the past few weeks, Venezuela, Cuba and Iran — our common partners — have become targets of the most blatant interference, primarily through the economy.
Therefore, technological sovereignty, reliance on our own resources and competencies, prioritising Union products and protecting the common market of the Union State are the same security frontiers. No less important than military and foreign policy ones,” he said.
Lukashenka stressed the need to prepare the main directions for the development of the Union State for the next three-year period, primarily in terms of technological sovereignty and industrial cooperation.
It is recalled that Belarusian Railways and Russian Railways have already linked Smolensk and Vitsyebsk with Orsha by suburban trains. However, at present this service is organised with transfers to coordinated trains at the Asinouka and Zaolsha stations.