RF-Belarus Union Supreme State Council to meet in Moscow.

MOSCOW, December 10 (Itar-Tass) - A regular meeting of the Supreme
State Council (SSC) of the Russia-Belarus Union will be held in the
Russian capital on Thursday. The meeting plans to consider in the context
of fulfilment of agreements reached at the previous meeting (Moscow, Feb
3) progress of the fulfilment of the joint Action Plan aimed at minimising
the financial crisis effects.

The work carried out in accordance with the
plan has a complex nature and is aimed at the preservation of the
bilateral cooperation ties in the crisis conditions. One of its specific
results is the creation of preferences for the mutual supplies of products
to Russian and Belarusian markets.
The SSC will consider progress of the working out of the programme for
the expansion of cooperation in the fuel and energy sphere. This document
envisages further development of interaction in the gas, oil, gas-chemical
industry, in the electric power industry and atomic power sector.
With taking into account the beginning of a new fiscal year the
meeting will approve the Union State's budget for 2010 in the volume of
4872 million Russian roubles (Russian side's contribution is 65 percent
and Belarusian - 35 percent). Despite the known financial difficulties in
the global crisis conditions, it is planned to preserve the sides' budget
allocations at the level of this year.
The meeting also intends to approve the Programme of coordinated
actions in the foreign policy sphere for 2010-2011. Its implementation is
to ensure the development of coordinated approaches of Russia and Belarus
to the most important world politics issues.
Ahead of the SSC meeting Russian President Dmitry Medvedev will hold a
separate meeting with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko. They are
expected to particularly focus on the further strengthening of the
economic foundation of Russian-Belarusian integration cooperation,
including regarding the existing decisions on the launch starting from
January 1, 2010 of the Customs Union of the EurAsEC troika - Russia,
Belarus and Kazakhstan.
-0-


.RF seeks to set transparent Euro-Atlantic security rules-Grushko.

LONDON, December 10 (Itar-Tass) - Russia seeks to create transparent
rules in the zone of Euro-Atlantic security, Russian Deputy Foreign
Minister Alexander Grushko told Itar-Tass in an interview. He takes part
in the forum "Towards A New European Security Architecture" held at the
International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) in London.
"A very concerned discussion of RF President Dmitry Medvedev's
initiative on the conclusion of a European security treaty was held. We in
our speech placed the emphasis on explaining the essence of the Russian
initiative. It is aimed at the creation in the Euro-Atlantic space from
Vancouver to Vladivostok an absolutely clear set of legally binding rules
that should be observed by all states of this region, and also, which is
of principal importance, all organisations acting in security spheres.
These are such basic for any state things as territorial integrity,
non-use of force, respect for sovereignty and peaceful conflict
settlement. All these elements are contained in proposals that were sent
by the RF president to the heads of state and government of the
Euro-Atlantic region, as well as to the heads of all organisations acting
in the Euro-Atlantic space," Grushko said.
According to him, the Wednesday conference has once again shown that
many RF partners proceed from the assumption that the "work aimed at the
establishment of order in the sphere of security in the Euro-Atlantic
region should be backed by progress also in other spheres."
"Many forum participants also spoke about the need to strengthen
relations between Russia and NATO for seeking consensus regarding new
challenges and threats which the whole world is facing today: the danger
of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, organised crime, drug
flows and many other threats. They also spoke about the need to search for
solutions to frozen conflicts. We have supported these theses," Grushko
noted. "We are attentively watching how the work on a new strategic
concept of NATO will be carried out and hope that our partners in the
Russia-NATO Council in the development of this concept will take into
account the interests of the Russian Federation," the diplomat noted. He
said that it is necessary to neutralise global threats that equally affect
the interests of all states in the Euro-Atlantic space by pooling efforts.
Formal contacts and cooperation between Russia and NATO start in 1991,
within the framework of the North Atlantic Cooperation Council (later
re-named Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council) and are further deepened as
Russia joined the Partnership for Peace programme on June 22nd, 1994.
On 27 May, 1997, at 1997 Paris summit of NATO, sides signed a Founding
Act on Mutual Relations, Cooperation and Security, a road map for future
NATO-Russia cooperation. Both sides state they do not see each other as
adversaries, and have political commitment to cooperate at creating
"lasting and inclusive" peace in Euro-Atlantic area.
The NATO-Russia Council was created on 28 May 2002 during the 2002
NATO Summit in Rome, has been an official diplomatic tool for handling
security issues and joint projects between NATO and Russia, involving
"consensus-building, consultations, joint decisions and joint actions."
"Joint decisions and actions" taken under NATO-Russia Council
agreements, include fighting terrorism, military cooperation (joint
military exercises and personnel training), cooperation on Afghanistan
(Russia providing training courses for anti-narcotics officers from
Afghanistan and Central Asia countries in cooperation with the UN),
transportation by Russia of non-military freight in support of NATO's ISAF
in Afghanistan, industrial cooperation, cooperation on defence
interoperability, non-proliferation, and other areas.
-0-ezh