MOSCOW, August 15 (Itar-Tass) —— Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin holds that integration processes in the framework of the Customs Union (Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan), far from hampering, supplement similar processes of the Union State of Russia and Belarus. He stated this to reporters after the meeting of the Council of Ministers of the Union State of Russia and Belarus and the meeting with his Belarussian counterpart Mikhail Myasnikovich.
The Russian premier pointed out that the “different speed of advance in the integration area is justified”, and that in some directions, above all in the areas unconnected with social guarantees, the Union State is ahead of integration in the Customs Union and of the establishment of the Common Economic Space. “So, one thing does not interfere with the other. Quite the contrary, it supplements the other,” Putin said.