The Russia's Federation Council, the upper house of the parliament, Wednesday unanimously approved the Russian-Belarussian Union Treaty.

The treaty was voted in by 158 senators with two abstaining. Nobody voted against.

The voting was witnessed by parliamentary delegations from Belarus and Yugoslavia, which were present at the chamber.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin addressed the lawmakers of the upper house on the treaty's ratification before the voting, saying the treaty "doubtlessly meets Russia's genuine national interests" and will do no harm to regional status of both countries.

Belarus's upper house also approved the treaty with all 54 sentors voted in december 22.

Earlier, on December 13, the Russian State Duma, lower house of the parliament ratified the treaty on the establishment of the Russian-Belarussian Union State. A total of 382 deputies voted for the ratification while two opposed and three abstained.

Russian President Boris Yeltsin and his Belarussian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko signed the treaty in Moscow on December 8. A program for implementing this document was also inked on the same day.