Founding of Union State

The Union State of Russia and Belarus is a supranational union created by treaty between the two countries. Its roots lie in agreements of the mid-1990s that began with a Community of Sovereign Republics, followed by the Union of Belarus and Russia in 1997, and a formal treaty founding the Union State was signed at the end of 1999. It aims at closer economic, military and political integration, including a common currency and constitution, but most of these goals have never been realized. Citizens of each country can live and work in the other, and the two cooperate closely on defense. Belarus's president Alexander Lukashenko has long been the main partner of Russia in the arrangement, and in 2022 Belarusian territory was used as a staging area during Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

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