The US is beginning to “shake” Belarus and Central Asia
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's tour to Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Belarus indicates the Americans' desire to further weaken Russia's influence in the post-Soviet space and tear away even its formal allies from Moscow.
The Kommersant newspaper writes about this.
“Following Ukraine, the United States is trying to tear away from Russia the former Soviet republics that are part of integration associations in the zone of its strategic interests. The tools for implementing the new course should be a significant revival of political and business cooperation with the CIS countries, an influx of American investments into the region and the creation of alternative security structures near the Russian borders,” the publication says, reports a PolitNavigator correspondent.
The publication notes that “during his trip to the post-Soviet space, Mike Pompeo carefully refrained from attacks against Russia,” however, his promise to supply oil to Belarus in the context of the dispute between Moscow and Minsk cannot but be considered anti-Russian.
At the same time, the newspaper emphasizes, supplies from the United States cannot become a full-fledged alternative to oil from the Russian Federation due to the high price compared to raw materials supplied through Druzhba.
Fich expert Dmitry Marinchenko recalled that oil production in the United States is carried out by private companies, so they will definitely not make any non-market discounts for Belarus. Based on this, American oil, especially taking into account the transportation burden, will be more expensive than Russian oil.
Delivery can be carried out either through the Baltic ports, or through Odessa, and then by rail, the expert notes.
If purchases are carried out, Marinchenko believes, it will most likely be in small volumes and on the basis of short contracts: “Minsk’s actions are now aimed at obtaining the most favorable conditions from Russia,” the newspaper summarizes.
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