Russian, Belarussian Presidents To Take Part In Meeting Of Union State's Council

Russian and Belarussian Presidents Vladimir Putin and Alexander Lukashenko will take part in a meeting of the Supreme State Council of the Russia-Belarus Union in Moscow on Wednesday. Prime Ministers Mikhail Kasyanov and Gennady Novitsky and parliamentary speakers will also attend the meeting. The meeting will focus on further integration of the two countries. The Supreme State Council members are expected to discuss political issues of the integration, such as the implementation of decisions of the Union's bodies, the preparations of the Constitution's project and elections to the Union's parliament. In addition, the Supreme State Council will consider the implementation of the 2001 budget and the 2002 budget draft and the forecasts of the Union's social development for the period till 2005. The members of the State Council are expected to consider a report on the implementation of a programme of joint actions in the sphere of foreign policy and the project of the Union's military doctrine. They are to discuss the organisation of the external borders of the Union and joint actions on the provision of the regional group of forces.