The President of Belarus, Chairman of the Supreme State Council of the Union State has been awarded the Order of Alexander Nevsky for his great personal contribution to the development of friendly relations between Russia and Belarus, to strengthening bilateral cooperation in the political, defence, economic and social spheres.

Vladimir Putin awarded Alexander Lukashenko the Order of Alexander Nevsky.

The ceremony was held prior to the Union State Supreme State Council meeting. As he presented the award, Vladimir Putin thanked Alexander Lukashenko for his active participation in efforts to bring together Belarus and Russia, in creating the Union State and the Common Economic Space. “Without your active open stance on the issue of bringing Belarus and Russia together we would not have either the Union State or the Common Economic Space, or the Eurasian Union. This is a great constructive process, very important for our nations,” Vladimir Putin said.