Anatol Liabedzka: Lukashenka fears to miss Russian freebie

The Belarusian ruler understands that Viktor Yanukevych is his rival in the struggle for Russian resources.

Anatol Liabedzka, the leader of the United Civil Party (UCP), spoke to charter97.org about Lukashenka's possible meeting with the president of Ukraine.

“We have to notice that official Kyiv and Minsk have more problems than promising cooperation plans. When we speak about the post-Soviet area, Lukashenka regards Viktor Yanukovych as his rival, because Russia has a great political interest in Ukraine. When it [Ukraine] turns to Europe, it creates a strong centre opposing the Kremlin's aspirations to unite lands. It means that to fulfil its plans Moscow has to buy Kyiv's sympathy to stop it from moving closer to Europe and make it turn its face to Russia,” the politician thinks.

According to him, it costs much resources.

“In the current economic situation, to give something to Kyiv, you need to take it away from Lukashenka. The Belarusian ruler is jealous of Yanukovych, because he is a rival in the struggle for Russian freebie. There's another knot of problems. For example, dumping prices of Belarusian oil products in the Ukrainian market. Now the Ukrainian president imposes restrictions to protect domestic oil refineries,” Anatol Liabedzka said.

The UCP leader adds that the question of the state border remains unsettled yet.

“In this respect, Belarus reminds Ukraine about its debt to Belarus from the Soviet times. You return us the debt, we make concessions and settle the border question. The problem has been known for a long time, but it hasn't been solved so far. Ukraine refuses to admit the Soviet debt. Belarus blocks the border treaty. Both countries have cards up their sleeve and show them if they need to use the veto. Lukashenka is a hardened authoritarian regime, Yanukovych dreams about having the same control instruments in Ukraine. It is the only thing they have in common today,” the politician sums up.