Abstract. The author's dissent from Yu.V. Shishkov's book review of Yu.F. Godin's work «Belarus is the “Brest Fortress” of Contemporary Russia» makes the scientists to conduct his first analysis on development of the Union State of Russia and Belarus. Indeed, Russia–Belarus relations are presently experiencing a multitude of problems. However, it is imprudently enough to allege that the Union State is "in a coma". The analysis of Russia's and Belarus' socio-economic development, each taken separately, demonstrates peculiar benefits and implications in both countries' situation, but complementing each other they will be able to achieve far better results in all spheres of their mutual relations.