84Received 25.07.2023. Revised 03.11.2023. Accepted 01.03.2024.
Abstract. The new realities of the modern world have brought to the fore the need for more effective development of the existing international structures in the post-Soviet space. Such a specific developing formation as the Union State of Russia and Belarus (SGRB) is among them. Analysis of the SGRB activities at present stage (2019–2023) is the main research task of this article. Particular attention is paid to the prospects of the Union State, taking into account the modern international realities. They are sufficiently affected by the Russian Special Military Operation (SVO) in Ukraine, which was launched on February 24, 2022, and the accompanying unprecedent “wave” of sanctions initiated by the collective West against Russia and Belarus. Under these conditions, the very logic and functioning of the Union State have undergone significant changes, so that the coalition of the two states, which initially focused mainly on socio-economic interaction, began to increasingly acquire political and even military features. At present, the Union State highlights a number of serious projects in the sphere of financial, economic, social, and humanitarian cooperation. Although Russia and Belarus face many difficulties and contradictions in their cooperation within the framework of the international association created by them, their political and military interaction has become an important component of the Union State’s activities. The SGRB represents to some extent a new segment of regional interaction and integration in the Russian Near Abroad. The analysis of different stages in the Union State development after 2019, when the 20th anniversary of the SUBR was celebrated, facilitates an overall assessment of the effectiveness of political integration processes in the post-Soviet space. The results of the study help to determine the possibility of using the Union State’s experience to create new interstate associations in the territories of the former Soviet Union.
Keywords: Union State of Russia and Belarus, Near Abroad, cooperation, political interaction, integration, the collective West
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