“There are no more resources to keep Lukashenka afloat.” What did he discuss with Putin?

Is the statement about Russia’s “unprecedented steps” to support the Belarusian economy a bluff?

On Friday, 11 March, Alexander Lukashenka and Vladimir Putin met in Moscow.

As usual, they spoke behind closed doors for several hours and did not appear before journalists afterwards.

However, as Natallia Eismont reported, the politicians discussed the war in Ukraine and the course of negotiations on a peace agreement, as well as bilateral relations in the context of the sanctions imposed by the West.

According to the spokesperson of the Belarusian leader, Russia “has taken very serious and unprecedented steps to support our country’s economy”.

UDF (https://udf.name/) asked experts what they thought about the meeting between Lukashenka and Putin.
“There will be no consolidation in the EAEU”
The director of the Political Sphere Institute and Doctor of Political Science Andrei Kazakevich, in a comment to UDF (https://udf.name/), suggested which issues were of concern to the Belarusian leader.

Photo: dw.com
“Because of the war in Ukraine, unprecedented sanctions have already been imposed on Minsk, and sanctions against Russia will also hit the Belarusian economy indirectly.

Lukashenka’s task was to obtain financial support in this situation.

Because of its support for Russia’s military aggression, Belarus has faced significant restrictions; in such a situation it is logical to demand compensation.

It remains to wait a little to hear what exactly this compensation will consist of,” Kazakevich said.

In his view, the second main topic of the meeting was the military actions in Ukraine and the role assigned to the Belarusian authorities in this aggression.
“So far they are performing an auxiliary function, providing territory, military and civilian infrastructure.

Probably, this meeting discussed the issue of the participation or non-participation of Belarusian troops in the hostilities.

It is clear that Lukashenka does not want to get involved in this adventure,” Kazakevich noted.

Speaking about resistance to Western sanctions, Lukashenka said that it was necessary to unite within the EAEU — “and we will forget that we have sanctions”.
“This is absolute nonsense; there will be no consolidation.

In the EAEU, apart from Russia and Belarus, only Kazakhstan has a fairly large market; Armenia and Kyrgyzstan have small markets and major internal problems.

Today the EAEU countries are concerned with how to minimise the losses associated with Russia falling under sanctions; this may seriously affect their economies.

If Kazakhstan, for example, becomes associated with Russia in the military conflict, it too may face export restrictions, and Western companies may leave the oil and other sectors.

It is obvious that the other EAEU countries (except Belarus) will seek not to consolidate around Russia, but rather to distance themselves from it,” Kazakevich believes.

He added that Kazakhstan, Armenia, and Kyrgyzstan will come under close scrutiny from Western countries, since Russia may try to use them to circumvent the sanctions: for example, to supply itself with prohibited goods and technologies.