MOSCOW, July 21. /TASS/. Integration between Russia and Belarus should serve as an example to help simplify a similar process within the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), Russian Minister of Economic Development Maxim Oreshkin said on Sunday.

"We have a higher level of integration with Belarus than within the EAEU. We say that the five EAEU nations are moving towards closer integration, as is written in the treaty. But the pace of integration with Belarus is more accelerated and we show an example. I think we should be moving even faster because so that all others see that such integration is beneficial for both nations, and the integration process within the EAEU will be much smoother," he said in an interview with the Ekho Moskvy radio station.

According to the Russian minister, integration will be beneficial for both Russia and Belarus. "Some cautious optimism rests on the understanding of mutual profitability. So, any such long-term process — and this is a very long-term process — is uneven, with its ups and downs. What matters is to ensure that the long-term trend is in the interests of the people of our countries," he noted.