Lukashenko goes to Moscow with a traditional fig in his pocket
The presidents of Russia and Belarus will meet on February 22.
This was stated today by the press secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
“We can again expect very lengthy negotiations. The agenda is absolutely clear: bilateral relations, there is certainly something to inform the Russian President about, the National Assembly and exchange of views on international issues have just ended,” Peskov said.
In Belarus they expect that the issue of providing a loan to Belarus will be resolved at the meeting. However, Alexander Lukashenko denied this information.
“As always happens in Russia, some will pick up the agenda, and, lo and behold, “Lukashenko will come to ask for $3 billion.” I won't ask for anything. You saw that we signed documents on energy resources this year, which is sensitive for us, on common markets. They didn’t ask for anything or argue at all. If Russia believes that the level of our economic cooperation should be this high, then that’s what it will be. Therefore, these liberals in Russia are a little behind the sensitive issues that we are discussing. There are more important issues – ensuring the defense and security of our state,” Lukashenko said today.
He also announced that he would meet with Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev.
It is worth noting that Moscow has been pushing for constitutional reform in Belarus for the last six months. However, at the All-Belarusian People's Assembly, mentioned by Peskov, Lukashenko said that the reform would drag on for two years.
Observers believe that Lukashenko tried to sweeten this pill by giving the green light to the transfer of transit of Belarusian oil products from Baltic ports to Russian ones.
On the other hand, political scientist Dmitry Bolkunets is sure, it is no coincidence that on the eve of the meeting with Putin in Belarus, the trial of the former chairman of the board of Belgazprombank Viktor Babariko, whom the Belarusian president himself called Gazprom’s henchman, began when he tried to run for the presidency.
“For Lukashenko, this process is a kind of bargaining chip with the Kremlin. This banker worked for the Gazprom corporation, and Lukashenko still believes that Russia was trying to overthrow him. By the way, the current chairman of the KGB of Belarus promised to demonstrate at this trial the Russian puppet masters who interfered in the Belarusian elections and in the post-election situation.
Sometime in the fall, Belarusian TV channels said who these puppet masters were and that in general all these strings lead to the very top, pointing to some high-ranking employees of the corporation,” Bolkunets said on the air of the liberal radio station Ekho Moskvy.
Let us note that at the All-Belarusian People's Assembly, Lukashenko “changed his testimony” and stated that both Belarus and Russia were trying to rock the same pro-Western forces.
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