Medvedev criticizes Belarusian leader for pulling out of summit

17:1014/06/2009

MOSCOW, June 14 (RIA Novosti) – The Russian president criticized his
Belarusian counterpart on Sunday for refusing to attend a security
summit in Moscow, and for failing to personally discuss the matter.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko pulled out of the summit of
the post-Soviet Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) security
bloc in protest against Russia’s ban on Belarusian dairy products.

Dmitry Medvedev told reporters in Moscow: "I would like to say that in
such a situation, leaders should act as partners."

"Alexander Grigorievich Lukashenko did not call me on the telephone and
tell me that he had taken the decision not to come, but staff from his
administration called us," he said.

The Belarusian government earlier said it would refuse to send a
delegation to the summit, in protest against "economic discrimination"
on the part of Russia.

Earlier in June, Russia banned imports of over 1,000 types of dairy
products from Belarus, dealing a significant blow to its budget
revenue, saying producers in the ex-Soviet republic had failed to
comply with new Russian regulations.

The Belarusian Foreign Ministry said in a note handed to the CSTO
secretariat on Sunday that the country’s non-participation "means the
lack of approval from the Republic of Belarus of decisions being
considered" at the summit, along with the foreign and defense
ministers’ meetings, and "consequently a lack of consensus for the
taking of these decisions."

However, the leaders of the other member states – Armenia, Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan – signed an agreement at
the summit on creating a joint rapid-reaction force.