The Union State within the modern political discourse of Russia

The article is devoted to the analysis of the issues of integration interaction between Russia and Belarus through the lens of perception of the existence and functioning of the Union State by the power institutions and political parties of the Russian Federation. A study of the content of the official websites of state authorities, the information and analytical portal of the Union State and party programming was conducted on the example of pre-election documents of political parties admitted to participate in the elections to the State Duma of the eighth convocation. The official interpretation assumes, first of all, building up integration ties with Belarus in various spheres and directions, without creating a single state and emphasizing the issue of deepening political integration. In the party discourse, integration issues are less in demand at the present stage, although some parties offer more radical approaches, up to the “restoration” one.