Moscow entered into bargaining with Lukashenko for his sixth term
President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko will arrive in Moscow for the Victory Parade on June 24.
True, it was not he himself who announced this, but Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Andrei Rudenko - today at an online conference, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
“If we talk about political dialogue, then in exactly two weeks we expect Alexander Grigoryevich Lukashenko at the parade in Moscow,” Rudenko said.
Lukashenko's visit was confirmed last among the leaders of the CIS countries. At the same time, the Belarusian leader has recently allowed himself to make rather harsh statements towards his ally.
This gave reason to a number of observers to assume that he was trying to “sell” his presence at the parade for some kind of preferences. Energy resources are again seen as the most obvious subject of bargaining. Moreover, last week the Belarusian Ministry of Energy asked for a discount on gas, to which Gazprom demanded to repay the debt.
The next stage of oil and gas contradictions among the allies began at the end of last year and was linked to Alexander Lukashenko’s reluctance to sign new integration agreements. At home, he menacingly declared that he would not surrender sovereignty, but now, when the worsening political and deteriorating economic situation complicates his re-election for a sixth term, the topic of integration has again become relevant for Belarus.
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Belarus to the Russian Federation Vladimir Semashko said last week that Minsk is ready to resume negotiations on integration in September-October if Moscow makes concessions on oil and gas issues.
The rich history of Russian-Belarusian relations makes us fear that Lukashenko will receive a discount on gas before his re-election, but may then “forget” to sign integration cards.
It is possible that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will arrive in Minsk next week to negotiate guarantees for energy integration agreements.
“We hope that work on coordinating the remaining roadmaps will continue this year. They will solve many problems. Including in the oil and gas sector,” Rudenko confirmed this version.
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