Russians Approve Tough Actions against Belarus :: Charter'97 :: News

The better part of Russians backed up tough actions of authorities against Belarus taken in time of the recent oil and gas clashes, showed the survey of VTsIOM public opinion center.

As much as 71 percent of respondents said the standing of Russia’s authorities against Belarus was in line with the national interests of the country, and 45 percent even blamed the conflict on Belarus.

More than a half of respondents (57 percent) saw no political background in the clashes and agreed that Russia’s authorities manifested a principal approach targeted at shifting to fair market relations.

No more than 10 percent and 17 percent respectively blamed the conflict on Russia or rooted it in Russia’s attempt to pressurize Belarus.

The relations of Russia and Belarus clouded early January 2007, once Russia introduced a duty on crude export to Belarus. Belarus rebuffed by the duty on crude transit, which Russia declined to pay. The aftereffect was the end of Russia’s crude supplies to Europe, which were resumed only after the parties compromised in the Kremlin January 12.

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