Paul Goble
Staunton, August 10 – In his lengthy press show today on the anniversary of the contested Belarusian elections, Alyaksandr Lukashenka said “no” to six things Vladimir Putin very much wants and delivered two warnings to Moscow against failing to support him and Minsk or pressing them too hard, Sergey Shelin says.
While the Belarusian leader’s primary audience may have been the Russian people, the Rosbalt commentator says, he sent a clear message to Moscow that his negotiating position with regard to Russia has remained unchanged and still begins with a rejection of almost everything Putin wants (rosbalt.ru/blogs/2021/08/10/1915455.html).
Shelin points to the six issues about which Lukashenka is still saying “no” to Putin:
1. “As before, he isn’t recognizing Crimea as Russian.”
2. Lukashenka rejects “even the though about the unification of his country with Russia.”
3. He insists that “Russia play him for economic integration and not expect anything in return.”
4. The Belarusian leader refuses to allow Russia to establish a military base on Belarusian territory.
5. He makes clear that he won’t give up his country’s neutrality “for nothing.”
6. And Lukashenka stresses that whatever changes of post there may be, he will “retain all power in his own hands.”
In addition, Lukashenka delivered “two warnings, one of which Putin won’t like now and a second he won’t like later.” On the one hand, he warned the Kremlin leader that any softening in Minsk’s opposition to the protesters would create a situation in which Russia would be drawn into a major war with the West.
And on the other, Lukashenka said that the next meeting of the two leaders will represent “a colossal step forward,” exactly what he has said before earlier meetings which have not shifted his position one iota. Clearly, the Minsk leader is putting Putin on notice that the latter shouldn’t expect anything else in the future.
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