Belgium–Russia relations are the

bilateral Bilateral may refer to any concept including two sides, in particular: *Bilateria, bilateral animals *Bilateralism, the political and cultural relations between two states *Bilateral, occurring on both sides of an organism ( Anatomical terms of l ...

foreign relations A state's foreign policy or external policy (as opposed to internal or domestic policy) is its objectives and activities in relation to its interactions with other states, unions, and other political entities, whether bilaterally or through m ...

between the two countries,

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

and

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

. Russia has an embassy in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

and a consulate-general in Antwerp, whilst Belgium has an embassy in Moscow and a Consulate General in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

. Both countries are full members of the Council of Europe and the

Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is the world's largest regional security-oriented intergovernmental organization with observer status at the United Nations. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, pro ...

. The former country has good relations with the latter.

History

Vladimir Putin in Belgium 1-2 October 2001-8

High level contacts between Belgium and Russia began in the early 18th century, when Peter the Great visited the

Southern Netherlands The Southern Netherlands, also called the Catholic Netherlands, were the parts of the Low Countries belonging to the Holy Roman Empire which were at first largely controlled by Habsburg Spain (Spanish Netherlands, 1556–1714) and later by the A ...

in 1717. Amongst towns he visited were

and Spa. Peter left his mark in Spa, when he built an

edifice A building, or edifice, is an enclosed structure with a roof and walls standing more or less permanently in one place, such as a house or factory (although there's also portable buildings). Buildings come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and funct ...

with a portico over the main spring, which the locals renamed in his honour as ''Pouhon Pierre-le-Grand''.

Diplomatic relations Diplomacy comprises spoken or written communication by representatives of states (such as leaders and diplomats) intended to influence events in the international system.Ronald Peter Barston, ''Modern diplomacy'', Pearson Education, 2006, p. 1 ...

were established between Belgium and the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

in 1853, when Mikhail Irineyevich Khreptovich was appointed as the first envoy of the Russian Empire in Brussels on 19 March 1853.

Trade relations

In 2004, trade between the two countries totalled €4.75 billion, an increase of €1.18 billion over the previous year, with Russia holding a trade surplus of €1.51 billion in bilateral trade. Russian exports to Belgium were mainly ''commodities'', including minerals (37%), precious and semi-precious stones (22%), ferrous and non-ferrous metals (17%) and chemical products (8%). Russian imports from Belgium were composed of industrial equipment (25%), chemicals and pharmaceuticals (18%), plastic products and rubber (9%), food (8%) and transportation (8%). In 2004, Belgium imported 30% of its oil and natural gas from Russia, although mainly spot market. Air transport links between the two countries exist, with Aeroflot and Brussels Airlines operating flights between

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...

and

. After the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. ...

started, Belgium, as one of the EU countries, imposed sanctions on Russia, and Russia added all EU countries to the list of " unfriendly nations".

References

External links

Embassy of Belgium in MoscowEmbassy of the Russian Federation in BrusselsConsulate-General of the Russian Federation in Antwerp

Bilateral relations of Russia {{Bilateralrelations-stub

History

Trade relations

See also

References

Further reading

External links