I welcome the recent decision to build a high-speed rail service from Moscow to Minsk, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko said as he met with Chairman of PSB Bank Petr Fradkov in Minsk on 5 October, BelTA has learned.
“I know about your patriotic feelings and your attitude toward Russia. But our Fatherland is common to us all, as I often say, from Vladivostok to Brest. So Belarus should not feel alien to you. Especially given that I welcomed the recent decision in Russia to build a high-speed line from Moscow to Minsk,” the head of state said. “This project is very interesting for our people. Because in recent years more and more Belarusians have begun to visit Russia and its capital. I already call this a kind of pilgrimage of Belarusians to Moscow. Especially of young people.”
“So let us work together so that our peoples are always together. So that the idea that our peoples could somehow be separated never arises on either side, whether in Minsk or Moscow,” the president added.
The Moscow-Minsk high-speed railway (HSR) is a planned dedicated double-track electrified line for trains traveling at speeds of 200 to 400 km/h, which will cut travel time between the two capitals from 7-9 hours to 3 hours. Russian President Vladimir Putin approved the fundamental decision to begin developing this project on 15 June 2026. Belarus and Russia signed an official memorandum on cooperation in the design and construction of the HSR on 1 October 2026 at a meeting of the Council of Ministers of the Union State in Minsk.
