Meeting of the Supreme State Council of the Union State

A package of documents was signed at the conclusion of the meeting.

* * *

Vladimir Putin: Dear Alexander Grigoryevich! Dear friends!

We are delighted to welcome everyone to Moscow. Today we are holding another session of the Supreme State Council of the Union State [the highest governing body of the Union State of Russia and Belarus], which falls on an anniversary. But this is not merely a ceremonial occasion — it is also a working meeting.

Once again, I want to express my hope that it will be conducted at the highest level and to good effect. I am pleased to hand the floor to Alexander Grigoryevich as moderator and chair.

Please, Alexander Grigoryevich.

Alexander Lukashenko: Dear Vladimir Vladimirovich! Dear members of the Supreme State Council! Dear participants in today's event!

As is our tradition, I want to thank you, Vladimir Vladimirovich, the Government, the parliamentary leadership, and the ministers of the Russian Federation for the warm reception and the attention you devote to this event.

In the current international situation, against the backdrop of a tense environment — above all on our western frontiers — it is vitally necessary for us to develop the alliance and strategic partnership between Belarus and Russia. The geopolitical landscape objectively tasks us with being ready to respond jointly to any challenge.

Practical implementation of the treaty on security guarantees within the Union State has begun. In December, the Oresnik missile system [a Russian hypersonic intermediate-range ballistic missile system] entered combat duty in Belarus, as we had agreed.

We are working 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 toward protecting our common interests and the inviolability of international law and its institutions. But as always, the economy remains the primary focus.

Unfortunately, the global trading system is today being blocked, bent, and broken to serve the interests of those imposing prohibitive tariffs, technological and energy blockades, currency pressure, and piracy on logistics routes. Some countries are not permitted to export oil; others are prevented — or near-prevented — from importing it. If the leaders of the multipolar world — China and Russia — are still treated with some degree of caution, their allies face unprecedented pressure. Just look at recent weeks: Venezuela, Cuba, Iran. Our common partners have become targets of the crudest interference, primarily through economic means.

Technological sovereignty, therefore — reliance on our own resources and competencies, priority for Union State products, and protection of the Union State's common market — represents the same kind of security frontier as the military and foreign-policy ones, and no less important.

Dear colleagues!

On 2 April we will mark the thirtieth anniversary of the Treaty on the Formation of the Community of Belarus and Russia [signed 2 April 1996, this treaty laid the foundation for what became the Union State of Russia and Belarus], which laid the foundation for our union-building efforts. Over these years we have come a tremendous distance. Mutual market access has allowed trade volumes to grow eightfold: from 6.5 billion dollars in 1996 to nearly 55 billion dollars last year.

In bilateral trade, the energy component has decreased, while mutual deliveries of food and consumer goods have grown, and trade in services — transport, construction, and information technology — is expanding at an accelerated pace. Cross-investment gives our economies the impetus for interconnected growth and, most importantly, creates new jobs. More than 60 percent of the funds attracted by Belarus come from Russian investors. Our country has also substantially increased its investment in the Russian economy.

Today, the governments will report on progress in implementing the key directions for realizing the provisions of the Treaty on the Creation of the Union State for 2024–2026. At present, only 40 percent of sectoral measures have been completed — 125 out of 310. Fourteen tasks — just 4.5 percent — are behind schedule. In parallel, we must ensure the preparation of substantive, core directions for the next three-year cycle. And most importantly, we must actually deliver on them. They should be oriented above all toward ensuring the technological sovereignty of the Union State and technological parity with other countries. We can do this — and are already doing so successfully, albeit in specific areas and individual sectors.

The governments and the Permanent Committee [the executive body of the Union State] need to work through these directions thoroughly and comprehensively, so that we can then move forward at the pace the situation now demands of us.

In union-building we proceed from real life, advancing to a higher level of integration and creating interstate structures where the need has matured. We currently have the Joint Interstate Center of the Customs Committee, a tax committee, and a Union State hydrometeorological service. Today we are establishing the Union State Committee on Standardization and Quality, which should ensure oversight of product quality in our common market and help eliminate technical barriers in mutual trade.

This year, the status of "Union State Product" finally received formal legal standing. It is important that the official designation be followed by real support and protection of the interests of Belarusian and Russian producers of our common goods.

Cross-border railway passenger services on the Vitebsk–Smolensk and Orsha–Smolensk routes, launching in a few months, will expand opportunities for Union State citizens. I frequently note — and have said so to Mikhail Vladimirovich Mishustin [Prime Minister of the Russian Federation] — that as soon as you introduced additional "Lastochka" [Swallow — a series of Russian-made electric multiple unit trains] services, millions of Belarusians headed to Moscow. And now there are already not enough of them. Vladimir Vladimirovich, I should mention that I was briefed just yesterday: our exiles [a reference to Belarusian political emigres who fled after the 2020 protests] have become troubled by the fact that Belarusians are simply not going to Europe — everyone is going east. Fewer to China, more to Moscow and the Russian Federation. That is what it means to "work from the ground up." We are doing what our people need. Today we have planned to consider the question of rail and other transport links between neighboring regions. That is exactly right. And then there is no need to persuade anyone whether to be in the Union or not. We simply need to take these steps for the people.

And I am confident that you all genuinely appreciate the value of Belarusian-Russian relations and the unprecedented depth of our integration. The decision we are considering today will allow us once again to affirm the relevance of the Union State format.

I want above all to thank your ministers, Vladimir Vladimirovich, the members of the Government of the Russian Federation, who under the current Government have been paying greater attention to these matters. Thank you, Mikhail Vladimirovich. I won't even speak about our parliamentarians — they are simply the engine of our relations. Our regional-level events are very important. China has already proposed to us: let us work region-to-region, on the same model as you work with Russia. Iran — not today, but about six months ago — also expressed interest in such cooperation. On the ground, it is clearer what people need.

So the fact that we gave this process a push, and that parliamentarians — especially the senators — are engaged in it, I am grateful for that. And I very much hope that the Russian Government will remain committed to our union-building, and that we will fulfill all the instructions, our agreements, and the decisions we adopt at our joint events.

Vladimir Vladimirovich, everyone is waiting to hear what you have to say on all of this. Then we will move to the agenda.

Vladimir Putin: Thank you very much.

Dear Alexander Grigoryevich! Dear colleagues, friends!

At this session of the Supreme State Council of the Union State, we are to discuss and approve genuinely important decisions aimed at the further comprehensive development and strengthening of cooperation between Russia and Belarus in the political, economic, social, and humanitarian spheres.

The process of deepening integration between our two states is natural, organic, and — I wish to emphasize this — mutually beneficial. It is grounded in the unbreakable bonds of fraternal friendship, centuries-old traditions of good-neighborliness and mutual support, and the shared cultural, spiritual, and moral values of the Russian and Belarusian peoples.

Our session is taking place in an anniversary year for the Union State. Indeed, as Alexander Grigoryevich just said, April marks 30 years since the signing of the treaty establishing a community of our two countries — this occurred on 2 April 1996 — which launched our joint integration effort. Over the intervening decades, much has been achieved through coordinated effort. A common socioeconomic, defense, migration, information, scientific-educational, and cultural-humanitarian space has been formed. Citizens of Russia and Belarus are guaranteed equal rights in all spheres of life, freedom in choosing their place of residence and employment, the opportunity to participate in local elections, and equal, unimpeded access to government, social, and medical services.

A further step in the interests of citizens will be the decision adopted today by the Supreme State Council on organizing the protection of Russian and Belarusian citizens from prosecution by foreign states and judicial bodies.

Throughout the territory of the Union State, favorable conditions have been created for conducting a unified macroeconomic policy. Major projects are being jointly implemented in industry, transport, agriculture, and high-technology and knowledge-intensive sectors. Import substitution programs are advancing successfully, including in such crucial sectors as mechanical and machine-tool engineering, microelectronics, and optics.

As a result, bilateral Russian-Belarusian trade and investment continue to grow year after year. In 2025, trade volumes increased again — this time by nearly three percent. Our statistics may differ slightly, but the overall figure is very substantial: 52 billion dollars.

Russia leads in accumulated capital investment in the Belarusian economy — more than four and a half billion dollars. Around two and a half thousand Russian companies operate in Belarus. Our countries now even have their own shared trade mark, as was just mentioned — "Union State Product." This mark is assigned to goods in whose production at least half of the materials and components come from Russia and Belarus. It confers the right to access state procurement and other additional preferences.

Within the Union State, conditions for doing business are being systematically harmonized and improved, tax rules are being simplified, and financial and administrative regulation is being streamlined. Today we are to adopt a resolution of the Supreme State Council on the creation of a Union State Committee on Standardization and Quality. Alexander Grigoryevich also just mentioned this. This new body will help ensure that our citizens receive quality products — oversight will be more rigorous — and will also promote a maximally free, transparent, and effective competitive environment in the economic space of our two countries.

The transport and logistics network linking Russia and Belarus is expanding — as was also just noted by the President of Belarus. The unified passenger and freight transport system is being improved, and road and rail infrastructure is being modernized. In keeping with this, the State Council is also adopting a decision on restoring direct suburban rail services between neighboring regions of Russia and Belarus.

And of course, an integral part of the broad agenda of our Union State is the development of cultural, academic, sporting, and youth contacts. I will note, for example, that more than 16,000 Belarusians are studying in Russian educational institutions, and next year another 1,300 Belarusian applicants will be able to enroll in Russian universities on state-funded places alone.

The Union State prizes in literature and the arts have become truly prestigious and authoritative. Before us for approval is a resolution of the Supreme State Council on awarding the next round of these honors to talented figures of culture from both countries.

I will note that Russia and Belarus interact closely, as true allies, in the fields of foreign policy and defense. Our approaches to pressing items on the international agenda are always close or identical. We consistently strive to participate constructively in resolving global and regional problems, we work shoulder to shoulder within the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) [a Russian-led military alliance of post-Soviet states], the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), and other multilateral forums, including the United Nations. Together we resist sanctions pressure and advocate for the formation of a genuinely just multipolar world.

A reliable foundation for the alliance between Russia and Belarus is provided by the interstate treaty on security guarantees within the Union State, which entered into force in 2025. This comprehensive document is aimed at protecting the sovereignty, independence, and constitutional order of Russia and Belarus, and the integrity and inviolability of our territory and external borders. I am convinced that together with our Belarusian friends we will continue to do everything necessary to ensure that the military security of the Union State is guaranteed by all the forces and means available to our countries.

In conclusion, I wish to express confidence that our joint work today will serve the further development of Russian-Belarusian partnership and alliance, the advancement of equitable and mutually beneficial integration, and the improvement of the well-being of the citizens of Russia and Belarus. That, after all, is what we are here to do.

Thank you very much.

<…>

Lukashenko: Vladimir Vladimirovich, the agenda calls for summing up. If you would like — a few words.

Putin: I would simply like to thank our Chairman — you, Alexander Grigoryevich — for your work, and all colleagues for what was accomplished before today's meeting. Because, as is usual, we carry out extensive preparatory work in advance, and here we merely record the results of your efforts on both sides. Thank you very much.

And on my part, I invite the members of the Supreme State Council to a working lunch.

Lukashenko: Dear Vladimir Vladimirovich! Dear members of the Supreme State Council, invited members of the governments of Belarus and Russia, and other government officials!

Today we have set the vector for a new stage of integration development across all directions. Instructions have been issued to prepare the key directions for implementing the provisions of the Treaty on the Creation of the Union State for our next cycle — 2027–2029.

Summing up as is traditional, I too, like Vladimir Vladimirovich, wish to express gratitude to all those who prepared our session. I ask the members of the Supreme State Council, the governments, the parliaments, and the Permanent Committee to take serious personal control over the implementation of the decisions adopted today, with maximum personal engagement.

*(Addressing the State Secretary of the Union State, Sergei Glazyev [the State Secretary is the chief executive officer of the Union State's Permanent Committee].)* Sergei Yuryevich, I also ask you to respond to all questions that the journalists who participated in today's event may put to you in connection with this meeting. I want to thank them in advance for the important work they do — not only in raising the profile of our governing body within the Union State, but also in communicating the decisions we take, naturally, in the interests of the peoples of Belarus and Russia. I thank everyone for their work.

With that, we have concluded our work on the discussion and adoption of decisions on the items that were on the agenda of the Supreme State Council.

Thank you.