Shklou trap for Kremlin

Lukashenka will do everything to get a loan and not to fulfil Russia's conditions.

Viktar Ivashkevich, a coordinator of the civil campaign European Belarus, spoke to charter97.org about Russia's possible loan to Belarus on strict conditions for implementation of joint projects.

“The matter is that Belarus will have to choose a partner for cooperation. If it chooses to cooperate with the West, political prisoners must be released, democratisation and market reform must be carried out. If it chooses cooperation with Russia, it will have to give power to Kremlin step by step. Lukashenka faces the dilemma: he cannot do one thing but doesn't want to do the other,” the politician thinks.

He is confident the situation will make the Belarusian dictator take decisions:

“Lukashenka has great experience of reducing Russia's strict demands to capitulation in the end. It means that Russia gives money but the Belarusian ruler doesn't fulfil any demands. I think that any agreements may be signed this time too. They are all just sheets of paper in his understanding. Russia will give another loan. We may say that Russia will fall in the same Shklou trap again,” the European Belarus coordinator stressed.

He notes Russia cannot help backing Lukashenka who understands that perfectly.

“Dictator Putin cannot take strict measures in relation to his Belarusian counterpart because he himself suppresses democracy and confronts with the opposition. That's why the Kremlin cannot take the actions which would challenge the existence of the Lukashenka regime and will not allow the situation in Belarus when many variants of political developments would be possible,” Viktar Ivashkevich concluded.

It should be reminded that Alexander Surikov, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Russia to Belarus, said Russia would consider a question of granting a loan to Belarus, but would offer strict conditions to Minsk.