Roman Bessmertnyi: No Matter How Rebelliously Lukashenka May Act, He Remains Nobody

The whole economy of Belarus remains in the hands of the Kremlin, all the resources of the state, the systems of security and defense are controlled by the Russian Federation.

The refusal of Belarusian leader Aliaksandr Lukashenka to participate in the summit of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), as well as his other harsh statements and actions, can be explained by economic difficulties. Former Ambassador of Ukraine to Belarus Roman Bessmertnyi has said this in a comment to gordonua.com.

“Lukashenka’s actions can be easily explained. However, no matter how rebelliously Lukashenka may act, he remains a nobody. The whole economy of Belarus stays in the hands of the Kremlin, all the resources of the state, the systems of security and defense are controlled by the Russian Federation. Lukashenka’s actions can be reckoned some sort of a theatre. However, it is already obvious that the Union State of Belarus and Russia ceased existing. They started calling off certain persons on whom this union survived, they are cutting the budget and financing of some programs for the next year. There are many problems. It seems clear that the actual break of coordination is happening in the Eurasian Union as well. However, I would not make high stakes on that. Lukashenka behaves depending on who promised him money and how much. So, the show will go on,” – the interlocutor has added.

He has underlined that Moscow demands Lukashenka should pay, and he is “taking the Belarusians’ last shirts off, together with pants and underwear”.

“All Lukashenka’s actions are dictated by economic reasons. For the last 9 months Russia has been blackmailing him with oil and gas prices, and the agreement has remained unsigned. Simultaneously, Lukashenka steered the negotiations with the IMF. As Belarus fulfilled the previous arrangements, the mission says provision of a loan to Belarus appears possible. Plus, the West lifted the sanctions off certain individuals. They say that there is three times more money on the accounts in the United States than the sum which is disputed between Minsk and Moscow. Such situation pushes Lukashenka to certain talks and actions,” – Bessmertnyi has said.

We remind, on December 26 St. Petersburg hosted the EAEU summit. The union officially started functioning on January 1, 2015, having become the next step in the Eurasian integration under the aegis of Russia. Currently, the EAEU includes Russia, Kazakhstan, Armenia, Belarus and Kyrgyzstan.

Belarusian leader Lukashenka refused to participate in the summit, thus breaking the quorum of the meeting. At the previous summit in July 2016 Lukashenka criticized the EAEU.

“No matter how far our union progressed – first it was the Customs Union, then the United Economic Space, and now the EAEU – the number of trade limitations never changed – it remained at the level of 600. Moreover, after signing the agreement our domestic goods turnover has only been falling,” – he said back then.

In 2015, Lukashenka already mentioned that Belarus had signed the agreement, but with a clause, and could quit the EAEU.