BREST, 22 November (BelTA) - The foreign ministries of Belarus and Russia presided over a joint board meeting of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of Belarus and Russia in Brest on 22 November,
BelTA has learned.
It was symbolic that the meeting was held in the hero city in the year of the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Belarus from Nazi invaders and the upcoming 80th anniversary of the Great Victory next year.
During the event, Belarus and Russia reaffirmed commitment to the policy pursued by both countries to preserve the historical truth and prevent the rewriting and distortion of the heroic feat of the Soviet people during the Second World War.
Maksim Ryzhenkov stressed: "We will continue to demand justice, respect for our common values, non-interference in internal affairs."
The joint meeting focused on the topical issues of Belarusian-Russian cooperation in various fields and summed up the interim results of the joint plans and programs for 2024. Special consideration was given to the prospects for the development of cooperation within the framework of integration associations and the expansion of mutual support in international organizations. The diplomats also exchanged assessments on the state of global and regional security.
During the meeting, special attention was paid to ways and methods of further intensifying cooperation between Belarus and Russia with the countries of the Global South both on bilateral and multilateral tracks. It was noted that the SCO and BRICS are important elements of the foreign policy strategies of the two countries. An agreement was reached on further coordination of actions and approaches in this area.
Maksim Ryzhenkov expressed gratitude to his Russian colleagues for their support and assistance in Belarus' accession to the SCO and obtaining the status of a partner country in BRICS. The Belarusian minister of foreign affairs reiterated his readiness to work actively in these platforms, which have proved to be the core of building a sustainable and fair multipolar world order.
The board also considered joint steps to combat the instrumentalization of international law for short-term political purposes. The declaration adopted within the framework of the meeting is designed to once again draw the attention of the world community to the problem of politicization of international law by the countries of the collective West and their policy of replacing generally accepted norms and common rules with the concept of a “rules-based order”.
The parties exchanged views on ways and means of countering the sanctions pressure of the EU and the United States, as well as possible joint steps to further level the negative consequences of unilateral restrictive measures.
The meeting resulted in the signing of a number of important documents. Among them is the resolution of the joint meeting of the boards of the ministries of foreign affairs of Belarus and the Russian Federation, the plan of ministerial consultations for 2025, the Belarusian-Russian declaration on enhancing the role of international law and guidelines on the qualification of unilateral coercive measures as unlawful, and also ways and means to counteract, mitigate and compensate for the negative consequences of such measures. The parties also signed the joint vision of the Eurasian Charter of Diversity and Multipolarity in the 21st Century.
Prior to the meeting the diplomats of the two countries laid flowers at the Eternal Flame of the Brest Hero Fortress Memorial Complex and observed a minute of silence in memory of the heroes who fell during the Great Patriotic War.
The ministers of foreign affairs of Belarus and Russia also held a meeting with students of Brest universities.