Q: Reports said Sergei Martynov, the newly appointed Foreign Minister of Belarus, would pay his first working visit to Russia on April 2rd. Could you please comment on the way the foreign ministries of Russia and Belarus are interacting at the present stage?

A: Cooperation between the diplomatic services of Russia and Belarus acquired a systematic and comprehensive character in the recent years. The two countries base their interaction on the Programme of Co-ordinated Activities in the Foreign Policy of Member States of the Union State Treaty for 2002 and 2003 and actively co-operate in all the key issues of the regional and global agendas. Among these issues are the forming of a multi-polar world order, the furthering of relations with other members of the Commonwealth of Independent States, and the pursuing of a common line in the United Nations, the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe and other international organisations where European and global security and the fight against new challenges and threats (international terrorism, drug-trafficking, transnational organised crime, etc.) are concerned.

The plan of consultations between the foreign ministries of Russia and Belarus for 2003 envisages more than 30 meetings at an expert level. One of the priorities of joint efforts is to establish closer co-operation in the framework of the CIS, the Eurasian Economic Community and the Collective Security Treaty. Much attention is being paid to the ongoing effort to transform the Commonwealth into an effective integrative structure with an accent on economic co-operation. An agreement to form a uniform economic space comprising Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Ukraine, which the parties reached during a four-sided top-level meeting in Moscow in February 2003, is an important step in this direction.

Q: What are the regional and international problems that Igor Ivanov intends to discuss with Sergei Martynov?

A: The sides will undoubtedly discuss the current crisis around Iraq and the consequences it might have for the international situation. Moscow and Minsk are firmly convinced that the only way to deal with the situation is to stop military action as soon as possible and resume the political and diplomatic effort to solve the issue within the powers of the United Nations Security Council.

It is also expected that the parties will pay attention to the topical aspects of Russian-Belarussian foreign-policy co-operation and exchange opinions on a wide range of international problems. They will also focus on interaction in the framework of international organisations and relations with various European structures, including the joint effort that recently helped settle a number of issues concerning co-operation between Belarus and the OSCE.

In general, the upcoming exchange of opinions is meant to help the countries improve co-ordination and co-operation with an aim at co-ordinated foreign policy as a priority task stipulated in the Union State Treaty.