Andrei Sannikov: “Russia’s Benevolence is Alarming”
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13:12, — Politics
“The publicized results of Vladimir Putin’s official visit to Belarus show that Russia has made steps that are rather favourable for Belarus. Giving the credit has been confirmed, and price rise for gas is quite little. But this benevolence on the Russian part is alarming, as the relations between the Kremlin and Minsk remained tense,” told the international coordinator of the Charter’97 press-center, a former deputy minister of Belarus Andrei Sannikov, commenting on the results of Russian president Vladimir Putin’s visit to Belarus.
According to the diplomat, the sudden visit of Putin was the first official visit over all his presidential term, which makes us think about the real aims of the Russian president, and about what agreements have been adopted in reality. “It should hardly be accepted in good faith that after long night and protracted day negotiations he sides announced that they had agreed on positions which had been known long before Putin’s arrival. It is more likely that more serious agreements not given publicity yet were in question. There are fears that have been indirectly confirmed by Lukashenka that Russia is drawing Belarus in a military confrontation with the West and is preparing new military steps for which the Kremlin needs Belarus. Russia was rather decisive in suspending the Treaty on Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE), military men are openly saying that Treaty on the elimination of intermediate-range and shorter-range missiles should be disowned, that tactical nuclear weapons should be deployed outside Russia and so on,” Sannikov notes.
“Facing the consequences of his own backward economical policy, Lukashenka can “base himself on Russian bayonets” to preserve his regime. But it will be a direct threat both to him and to independence of the Belarusian state. Effects for Belarus would be disastrous, that is why any steps of Russia in this direction should be closely followed, and attention of the international community should be attracted, and first of all of the participants of the CFE, agreements on security arrangements in the framework of the OSCE, and of the US,” the international coordinator of the Charter’97 is convinced.
