Russia and Belarus have reached an "advanced" level of integration, with any further progress demanding time to be implemented, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday, amid a speculation about a possible merger of national central banks of the two countries
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 17th October, 2019) Russia and Belarus have reached an "advanced" level of integration, with any further progress demanding time to be implemented, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday, amid a speculation about a possible merger of national central banks of the two countries.
Earlier in the day, Belarusian Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei said that there was no point for the two countries to discuss the idea of a common central bank, earlier alleged by media to be a part of a bilateral program of action on integration. He stressed that, before proceeding to the peak of the economic integration, Minsk and Moscow should first resolve "acute issues, such as oil and gas prices, tax maneuver and problems with the supply of agricultural and industrial goods."
"Certainly, the daily agenda of citizens in any country primarily focuses on routine everyday issues related to life, employment and so on. It is the same in Russia and any other country in the world. This, however, in no way detracts from the tasks of integration and the commitment of the two countries to the ideas of integration, which have been declared at the highest level," Peskov said.
He recalled that the two nations had already progressed a lot in their integration.
"Integration is a process stretched out in time. By the way, we have already been at an advanced level of integration with Belarus - a union state," the spokesman added.
The two nations strive to maintain a high level of integration in pursuit of their 1999 Treaty on the Creation of a Union State of Russia and Belarus.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko earlier proposed adopting a program of integration by the 20th anniversary of the union in December. On September 6, the two prime ministers, Dmitry Medvedev of Russia and Sergei Rumas of Belarus, initialed a draft bilateral program of action.
