Russia supports the development of relations between Belarus and European organizations

November 23, Minsk /Corr. BELTA/. Russia supports the development of relations between Belarus and European organizations. This was stated today at the opening of a joint meeting of the collegiums of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of Belarus and Russia by the Minister of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Sergey Lavrov, according to a BELTA correspondent. According to Sergey Lavrov, Russia supports the development of relations between Belarus and European organizations, including the Council of Europe. He recalled that the Russian side "actively supported Belarus's accession as an observer to the Northern Dimension," and also welcomes Belarus's entry into the committee dealing with export control in the field of nuclear materials. "Today, at the joint meeting of the collegiums, special attention will be paid to issues of cooperation with the EU," Sergey Lavrov noted. "We respect the interests that the EU has in the CIS space. We are committed to comprehensive interaction with the European Union in promoting the development of our common region. Of course, with the understanding that the actions of all parties involved in this process, including the EU, should contribute to strengthening political and economic stability throughout our common region," he said. The head of the Russian Foreign Ministry also emphasized the need to implement "the principle of complementarity of integration processes in the West and East of Europe." "This is absolutely natural, because both the EU and the Customs Union, and the EEA, which we are building, are based on the same principles: freedom of movement of goods, services, people, and capital. Therefore, it is logical to combine our efforts in all these areas," Sergey Lavrov added. -0-