S.Lavrov: Russia supports full membership of Belarus in Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe

“Belarus’ return to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) coincides with the interests of Russia,” said Minister for Foreign Affairs of Russia S.Lavrov summing up the talks with the head of Belarusian MFA S.Martynov that took place in Moscow on 9th June.

“Belarus’ return to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) coincides with the interests of Russia,” said Minister for Foreign Affairs of Russia S.Lavrov summing up the talks with the head of Belarusian MFA S.Martynov that took place in Moscow on 9^th June.

“We are interested in getting our partners and allies involved in the work of different international structures. We are in favour of full membership of Belarus in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe”.

The Head of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs also noted that Russia comes out for getting Belarus involved in the work of other regional structures and said, in particular, that Minsk is planned to be granted the status of a dialogue partner in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. “We give each other support in international organizations and defend interests on the international arena,” he added.

S.Lavrov also said that a joint session of the boards of both countries’ ministries of foreign affairs is scheduled to take place in Minsk in November. During this meeting it is planned to approve the programme of concerted foreign policy for the years 2010-2011.

In his turn, S.Martynov noted the importance of such meetings and added that while in the past they had been held once in two years, in future they will become annual.