Russia and Belarus Strengthen Their Integration

 On Monday, Russia and Belarus inked 13 documents on integration between the two countries in the framework of their Union State.

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The documents were signed in Moscow following a meeting of the Council of Ministers, which was chaired by prime ministers Mikhail Mishustin (Russia) and Roman Golovchenko (Belarus).

In accordance with these pacts, Russia and Belarus will strengthen cooperation in the fields of space exploration, microelectronic technologies, border security, customs among others.

"Together we are stronger and able to jointly cope with the most complex challenges, with the tasks we face in a variety of areas -- from ensuring security to improving the well-being of our citizens and resisting external pressure," Mishustin said.

"The Union State of Russia and Belarus is an integration process, aiming to unite the political, economic, military, customs, currency, legal, humanitarian, market, and cultural spaces of the two countries," ANews commented.

Meanwhile, Ukraine received the first batch of Leopard 2 tanks from Germany, the Interfax-Ukraine news agency reported on Monday. The German-made tanks were handed over to Ukraine two months after Berlin's decision to supply them.

In January, Germany decided to supply its Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine and green-lighted requests by other countries to do so. Media outlets reported that Germany intended to send 18 Leopard 2A6 tanks to Ukraine.