Moscow's work in relation to the fraternal republics, which consisted of establishing good relations with the leaders and relying on the money of the oligarchs, failed.
This is a direct consequence of the fact that Russia, first of all, had to work with the broad masses of the population of those countries in which there are Russian interests.
This opinion was expressed on the Rossiya 1 TV channel by political scientist Sergei Mikheev, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
“One of the obvious flaws in Russian policy is the reliance on relations between state leaders. Yes, at some point it works, but at some point it stops working. Yes, there are some moments of trust, but there are also risks, because if at some point you come to an agreement with a leader, tomorrow this leader can make a feint with his ears and everything falls apart, which means this is not enough, to put it mildly, not enough.
Further, for example, as was the case with Ukraine, there is a bet on the fact that the Ukrainian oligarchy depends on relations with Russia, so everything will be fine, in other words, a bet on money, while there is a lack of more or less adequate work with the broad masses of the population.
We say that we have sympathy with Belarus, but what - there was no sympathy with Ukraine? If you rewind 15 years, what – there was no sympathy for Russia in Ukraine? Wasn’t it said in 1991, when referendums were held there, that “there will be excellent relations with Russia?” Where did all this go? Yes, our enemies are working, but the question is: where are we working?
I realize this is a broken record and this has been repeated many times. But if it happens again, it means it continues to not work! This means we need to do this on our part,” said Mikheev.
The political scientist also emphasized that the main thing that President Lukashenko of Belarus lost because of his actions was the sympathy of millions of Russians.
“Because what happened now with Belarus is a great success for our enemies. And our common failure – both ours and that of the Belarusians – is that we allowed such a situation to happen and that it worked.
Yes, I agree that maybe the situation will turn in the other direction, and we will see that, having worked in such a short period, in the long run it will even force Lukashenko to have closer relations with Russia, realizing that he is actually in limbo.
But the reputation of the Union State, including Lukashenko’s integration and all relations, has been undermined. Because what has definitely suffered is, firstly, trust between our countries and between leaders, and secondly, the feeling that Lukashenko and I are in the same boat, that we have a common destiny.
Because, I don’t know whether Lukashenko understands or not, he has lost the sympathy of millions of Russians,” concluded Sergei Mikheev.