The leader of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, warned Monday that it wasn't in Russia's interests to upset his country after Russian gas giant OAO Gazprom (GAZP.RS) reduced Belarussian gas supplies.
The leader of
Belarus
,
Alexander Lukashenko, warned Monday that it wasn't in
Russia
's
interests to upset his country after Russian gas giant OAO Gazprom (GAZP.RS)
reduced Belarussian gas supplies.
Lukashenko said issues of energy and security were closely linked when it came
to co-operation between the two ex-Soviet neighbors.
Belarus
has
long exploited
Moscow
's
desire to have a rare ally on its western borders in the hope of wringing
economic concessions.
"Here, on the western frontiers, a Russian person has reliable support and
friends no matter what circumstances we are facing," Lukashenko told
Nikolai Patrushev, the chief of
Russia
's
Security Council, in televised remarks.
"No matter how relations in the economy and other spheres are progressing,
the security of our countries and of our union state are issues that have long
been agreed upon and no one should joke here.
"Of course, everything today is linked here," he said. "Issues
of security of
Belarus
and
Russia
should not suffer due to unsolved problems in the economy and other
spheres."
Russia
and
Belarus
have
said building close economic ties remains a priority in bilateral relations and
the two have also been working toward a single customs bloc.
Ties however have been soured by frequent energy and trade disputes and
Lukashenko stayed away from a key meeting last month, forcing
Russia
and
Kazakhstan
to
launch the customs union without
Belarus
.
Earlier Monday,
Russia
reduced natural gas supplies to
Belarus
by
15% after
Minsk
failed to settle a debt of nearly $200 million.
Gazprom said talks were continuing but that the gas cuts would be increased to
85% in the coming days if a solution to the conflict is not found.
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