MINSK SAYS REGIONAL SECURITY ISSUES LINKED TO TRADE WITH RUSSIA

RIA Novosti
20:2811/08/2009
Minsk

MINSK, August 11 (RIA Novosti) – Belarus will sign a post-Soviet
regional security deal if it believes there is any benefit in signing
it, President Lukashenko said on Tuesday.

Belarus refused to sign an agreement on the creation of a collective
rapid reaction force under the auspices of the Collective Security
Treaty Organization (CSTO) at a CSTO summit in Moscow on June 14 over
trade disagreements with Russia. Uzbekistan also opted out.

The CSTO comprises Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia,
Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.

Lukashenko said "it is our right" to sign or not to sign the documents,
adding that "we will sign it if we can benefit from it."

He said Minsk’s problem was a lack of access to Russian markets and
overpriced energy resources from Kazakhstan and Russia.

He stressed, however, that his no-show at the CSTO summit did not mean
that Minsk was against integration, including military cooperation.

In mid-July, Russia’s veterinary watchdog slapped a temporary ban
on meat supplies from two Belarusian meat plants over the alleged
presence of harmful substances. Belarus retaliated by suspending its
stretch of the Unecha-Ventspils oil pipeline, citing its unsatisfactory
technical condition.

Russia and Belarus were earlier embroiled in a milk row after Moscow
imposed a ban on Belarusian dairy supplies, which bring the country
$1 billion in annual revenue, claiming Minsk had failed to comply
with new regulations despite repeated warnings. In response, Belarus
briefly imposed tough customs controls on border crossings with Russia.