RUSSIA, BELARUS TO RESUME TALKS ON DAIRY DISPUTE

RIA Novosti
June 15, 2009

MOSCOW, June 15 (RIA Novosti) – Russia will resume discussions on
Monday with Belarus on resuming the country’s dairy exports, which
Moscow has banned over health concerns, Russia’s chief sanitary
official said.

Russia banned imports of dairy products, one of Belarus’s key exports,
earlier this month, saying the ex-Soviet republic had failed to
comply with new Russian regulations. Minsk boycotted a security
summit in Moscow on Sunday in protest at what it called "economic
discrimination".

"We have agreed that [Belarusian] experts will arrive on Monday,
and we will outline our priorities. We are prepared for cooperation,
we have always been ready for cooperation," Gennady Onishchenko said,
adding however that Russia would make no concessions on the issue.

An aide to Belarus’s agriculture minister said on Monday that the
problem could be resolved within a week.

"Within two days we will prepare all samples, which will be sent
to [Russian regulator] Rospotrepnadzor labs. I believe the problem
will be settled within a week," Kazimir Romanovsky was quoted by the
Belarusian news agency Belta as saying.

Romanovsky said Belarus’s dairy exports to Russia are worth $1 billion
a year.

Relations between the former Soviet republics have been strained
in recent years, over growing prices for Russian natural gas, and
Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko’s efforts to strengthen ties
with the West and move out of Moscow’s sphere of influence.

Lukashenko cancelled plans to take part in a summit of the Collective
Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), which groups Russia, Belarus,
Armenia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan.

Russia President Dmitry Medvedev criticized Lukashenko for failing
to personally contact him to discuss Belarus’s refusal to attend.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress