15 March, Minsk /BELTA/. Russia will provide comprehensive support to Belarus in the event of toughened political and economic sanctions against Minsk by the EU. This was stated by Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin following a meeting with First Deputy Prime Minister of Belarus Vladimir Semashko, news agencies report. Dmitry Rogozin noted that this issue is not so much related to military-technical cooperation. "This is rather intergovernmental cooperation," said the Deputy Prime Minister. "But I can say one thing: we will not let our Belarusian colleagues be offended," noted the Russian Deputy Prime Minister. He reported that during today's meeting, issues of cooperation between the two countries in the defense industry complex were discussed. In particular, aspects of creating a research and development base in this area, harmonizing industry standards, and reviving the production of the element base in microelectronics were touched upon. The consultations were attended by First Deputy Prime Minister of Belarus Vladimir Semashko, Chairman of the State Military Industrial Committee Sergey Gurulev, Director of the Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation of Russia Mikhail Dmitriev, and other officials.-0-

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