Russian, Belarusian foreign ministries to hold joint meeting in Moscow

Russian and Belarusian foreign ministers conclude a two-day joint meeting in Moscow today.

The meeting between Russian FM  Sergey Lavrov and his Belarusian counterpart Sergei Aleinik focused on bilateral foreign policy cooperation, Eurasian security, and and economic coordination.

The European Union has criticized Belarus for remaining an ally to the Kremlin despite Russia’s ongoing war with Ukraine. In a new attempt to reduce EU reliance on gas imports on Russia, the EU is preparing to establish a new law that will give its member states the power to stop gas imports from the two countries, providing a basis for EU energy companies to get out of contracts with Russian gas providers without paying penalties for severing ties. Despite efforts to cut off Russian gas imports, the EU still relies on Russia for 10% if its gas as several members including Austria and Hungary still depend on Russian supplies.

The provisional agreement will likely be endorsed and adopted by both the European Council and parliament, after which the Members of Parliament would vote on it sometime next year. In response, Russia will likely redirect gas supplies to emerging markets in Africa and Asia as EU member states continue to phase out Russian gas imports in the medium to long term.