Published on: 2026-10-02
Source: Government of the Russian Federation –
An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
Question: Alexey Logvinovich, what are the results of the recent events?
Context
A. Overchuk: Speaking about the Council of Ministers of the Union State, first and foremost we addressed issues related to strengthening transport connectivity. It was noted that the suburban services opened on April 2 of this year between Smolensk and Orsha, Smolensk and Vitebsk are operating successfully. Moreover, in these months, more than 55 thousand people have already used these routes, which is twice the forecast and indicates that both in Russia and in Belarus people are interested in traveling to each other, expanding contacts, and engaging in joint business. And of course, suburban railway services open up completely different opportunities for this.
Within the framework of the High-Level Group of the Council of Ministers of the Union State – and yesterday at the Council of Ministers the prime ministers confirmed this – we will obviously be making a decision this winter to expand the geography of suburban railway services between our countries. We will be opening routes between Velikiye Luki and Vitebsk, Velikiye Luki and Polotsk. And this, as we expect, will also contribute to the growth of trade and human exchanges, and simply to the restoration of those ties that were disrupted after the collapse of the Union and later due to Covid. This work is currently underway. I think everyone living in the Pskov and Smolensk regions will find it easier because of this.
We are also working on restoring the suburban railway service between Bryansk and Gomel. This issue will also be resolved in due course.
And this is probably a momentous decision taken within the framework of the Union State’s Council of Ministers: we are starting to work on the issue of a high-speed rail line between Moscow and Minsk. As you know, the construction of the high-speed rail between Moscow and Saint Petersburg is already actively underway. And yesterday, a Memorandum was signed on the construction of the high-speed rail line “Moscow – Minsk.” In principle, we understand how the technical assignment and preparatory documentation will be financed. And we will gradually move into the practical phase of implementing this project.
As is well known, the distance between our capitals is about 700 km, and we expect that it will be possible to travel by train from Moscow to Minsk and back in about two and a half to three hours. The speed on unpopulated areas is expected to be 400 km/h, within city limits – about 120 km/h. In other words, Moscow and Minsk will essentially become a single urban agglomeration, which is also very important for the development of ties between our countries—business and personal. And this, of course, will contribute to improving the lives of our people.
To be continued…
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