Russia on Monday said that it prioritizes strengthening bilateral trade and economic cooperation with neighboring Belarus, as the country’s premier hosted talks with his visiting counterpart in the country’s capital Moscow.
“We prioritize strengthening our trade and economic cooperation. Last year, mutual trade turnover grew by 6% compared to 2023 and reached new record levels – 4.5 trillion Russian rubles, or almost 163 billion Belarusian rubles,” Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said during talks with his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Turchin.
Noting that strategic agreements were reached last month on increasing cooperation in the Union State between Russia and Belarus, Mishustin said that their task is to ensure clear and prompt implementation of decisions taken at the highest level.
Mishustin said that Russia and Belarus protect their trade and investments from the “negative external environment” despite increasing sanctions on the two countries, further indicating Moscow and Minsk have transferred more than 95% of their financial settlements into national currencies.
The Russian premier further said they are also accelerating the implementation of joint cooperation projects in the field of industry, noting that new initiatives in high-tech areas are being developed and have been discussed in detail earlier today.
“We are talking about artificial intelligence, digital ecosystems, the use of big data, and unmanned automatic systems,” Mishustin went on to say, adding that he is convinced the introduction of digital services will ensure the development of their national economies.
“Of course, we traditionally pay special attention to humanitarian cooperation” and both countries are working together to form a common educational space, he said.
For his part, Turchin said that they are focused on the clear implementation of the provisions under the Union State Treaty for 2024-2026 signed in January 2024.
Russia and Belarus are formally part of a union state and have been in talks for years to move closer together, a process that has accelerated in recent years.