Russia’s FM claims West wants to antagonize Belarus, Russia

June 4, BPN. Western countries are seeking to weaken the Union State of Russia and Belarus by dividing the peoples of Belarus and Russia, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said.

In his address to the participants of the Russian-Belarusian historians’ forum held in Moscow, he accused the West of falsifying history and inciting hatred between the “brotherly nations” of Russia and Belarus. 

Lavrov encouraged historians to “recreate an objective picture of the past” and promote “patriotic education of our youth” by harmonizing curricula and implementing joint approaches to teaching history. 

In 1999, Russian President Boris Yeltsin and Belarusian President Alaksandr Łukašenka signed a treaty to establish the Union State. It entered into force in January 2000 after ratification by the parliaments of the two countries. The deal is of unlimited duration.

In 2018, Russia launched an upgrade of the Union State to bind the two countries together.

In November 2021, Minsk and Moscow signed 28 Union State programs. They focus on macroeconomic, industrial and agricultural policies, tax and customs legislation and a common gas market, among other things.