Moscow determined to broaden relations with Minsk
MOSCOW. June 15 (Interfax) - Moscow intends to continue active cooperation with Minsk despite the 'milk' problem and the Belarusian refusal to attend the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) summit, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Monday.
"We would like to reaffirm the Russian determination to continue the enlargement of interaction with Belarus in all spheres of the bilateral relations, for the benefit of peoples of the two fraternal countries. We regard Belarus as a reliable partner and ally," the ministry said.
At the same time, the ministry urged Belarus not to politicize dairy exports and not to link them with the CSTO activity.
"Unfortunately, a political flavor has been added to this purely technical problem. Minsk referred to the unsettled problems in the deliveries of dairy products to Russia in its refusal to attend the CSTO Minsk summit on June 14. Obviously, attempts to link bilateral problems to cooperation in multilateral formats of the CSTO kind are irrational and flawed," the ministry said.
The ministry called 'unsound' the Belarusian reaction to the Russian demand that its dairy products must meet technical regulations.
"The Russian side announced its readiness to do everything necessary for the soonest compliance of Belarusian suppliers with the requirements. We strongly believe that the question of dairy supplies must be resolved between relevant ministries in a constructive and business-like way," the ministry said.
The Belarusian attitude does not help develop interaction in economic and military security and does not take into account the interests of other CSTO member states, the ministry said.
te rp