Both China and Iran have asked to replicate the Belarus-Russia Union State's region-to-region cooperation model, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said at the Supreme State Council of the Union State in Moscow on February 26, as Russian President Vladimir Putin co-chaired the session, BelTA reported on February 26.

The Union State, established by treaty in 1999, has deepened considerably since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, with Belarus serving as a key transit and logistical partner to Moscow. Critics have said the Union between the two was attempting to recreate the Soviet Union. 

"Today the Chinese have already proposed to us: 'On the principle of how you work with Russia, let us work — region with regions,'" Lukashenko told the council. "Iran, about six months ago, also wants such cooperation," he added.

The session was the first since a meeting in Minsk in December 2024 to mark the 25th anniversary of the Union Treaty.

The agenda covered seven items related to bilateral integration, including the Main Directions for Implementing the Union State Treaty for 2024-2026, as well as work on a successor document covering 2027-2029.

Of the more than 300 activities planned for the 2024-2026 period, only half have been completed, with delays recorded across a number of areas, according to the head of the Belarus Presidential Administration Dmitry Krutoi.

Other items on the council's agenda included the establishment of cross-border commuter passenger services, the creation of a Union State Committee on Standardisation and Quality, mutual support in international justice, and the awarding of the Union State Prize in Literature and Art for 2025-2026.

The model works by linking individual regions directly rather than routing cooperation through central governments, an approach Lukashenko said more accurately reflects the real needs of populations than top-level agreements.

"On the ground, it is clearer what people need," he said, crediting parliamentarians and senators on both sides for keeping the process moving since its launch.

Lukashenko closed with a pointed reminder to Moscow that he expected results, saying he was counting on the Russian government to follow through on all instructions, agreements and decisions taken within the union-building framework.