Translated material
across the old man
Russian journalists announced a boycott of the President of Belarus
The anniversary summit of the CIS, whichPresident of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko so sought to hold in Minsk, ended in an embarrassment unprecedented in the history of meetings of the leaders of the Commonwealth. Russian journalists from the Kremlin pool, accredited at the summit, refused to participate in the final press conference and left the National Library, where it was supposed to take place. The reason for the demarche was the decision of the Belarusian organizers of the summit not to allow three Russian journalists to participate in the press conference. The refuseniks turned out to be two journalists from Moskovsky Komsomolets and a photojournalist from Kommersant. As the Vremya Novostey newspaper learned, Minsk’s decision was made at the highest political level: the President of Belarus did not like one of the MK publications and those photographs of him published in Kommersant.It also turned out that the heads of the Kremlin administration and the Russian Foreign Ministry tried to “resolve the situation” even on the eve of the summit (and even then it became known that the journalists of the two Russian newspapers were not on the list of accredited ones). But in Minsk they were unforgiving and only pointed their fingers upward. Let us note that Belarus is only the host of the meeting and therefore its right to deprive journalists of accreditation at an international event such as the CIS summit looks very doubtful.
Therefore, the words of Mr. Lukashenko caused special “satisfaction”, who in his final speech said that “so far I have not received any complaints from the summit participants, everyone felt comfortable and cozy working in Minsk...”. However, formally he was not lying; at that moment, Russian journalists were still preparing for their demarche.
Alexander Lukashenko seemed to have done everything he could to save the reputation of the CIS. Of course, in accordance with his ideas as a former party propagandist. He referred to the “trust of the people” that “cooperation in the CIS” enjoys, to the “not lost (CIS - Ed. ) credit of trust from the population.” The host of the summit assured that “every Belarusian is waiting for information from this hall”, that “we are being carefully watched by our neighbors, and I think, not very close ones...”. Here, apparently, one could find a hint that very close to the west of Belarus, in Riga, another summit, NATO, was taking place at the same hours. Naturally, in such conditions, Lukashenko called on his colleagues to “do everything to make the summit successful.”
Unfortunately, almost all of these efforts were in vain. An illustration of this conclusion can be considered the melancholy remark of the current CIS chairman, President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev, that “the effectiveness of the CIS is low,” but, on the other hand, “the CIS does not bother anyone,” continuing to be a platform for negotiations between the leaders of the Commonwealth.
The President of Kazakhstan needed to maintain composure so as not to betray his disappointment that the concept of CIS reform he proposed in Minsk did not find the support of his colleagues. First of all, thanks to Mr. Lukashenko. However, Mr. Nazarbayev has hope for revenge; on the sidelines of the summit yesterday it was already said that the next meeting of CIS leaders, informal and timed to coincide with the 15th anniversary of the CIS, celebrated in coming December, could take place in mid-December in Astana. Otherwise, the issue of reforming the CIS will be postponed until the “regular” Commonwealth summit in Bishkek next summer or until the “no tie” meeting in St. Petersburg in June.
As for other expectations from the Minsk summit, related, for example, to the possibility of personal communication between the presidents of Russia and Georgia, it took place in strict accordance with the scenario outlined earlier in the Kremlin - Vladimir Putin and Mikheil Saakashvili shook hands before sitting down to summit round table. And then perhaps a few words were exchanged for a few minutes. Already at the airport, before the departure of the Georgian delegation from Minsk, the VN correspondent managed to talk with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia, Gela Bezhuashvili. He confirmed that the meeting between Putin and Saakashvili took place, that it was short-lived, but successful. “In what sense?” your correspondent asked for clarification. “In the sense that the presidents looked into each other’s eyes and that, perhaps, before the end of this year, this will be translated into concrete Russian-Georgian agreements that will make it possible to de-escalate the conflict between Moscow and Tbilisi.”
Putin had full-fledged, but short bilateral meetings with the presidents of Belarus and Moldova. Vladimir Putin himself, already at the Minsk airport before departure, told reporters that at a meeting with Alexander Lukashenko they agreed to create a joint venture between Gazprom and Beltransgaz on a parity basis. The specific parameters of this joint venture will be determined at the expert level by the end of this year. At the same time, when assessing the value of Beltransgaz (which until now, as is known, has been a stumbling block), the parties will proceed from the assessment of an independent appraiser.
Return of the white stork
After the summit, Vladimir Putin, RIA Novosti reports, held a number of bilateral meetings. In particular, the presidents of Russia and Moldova discussed the entire range of relations, including the supply of Moldovan agricultural products to the Russian Federation, energy and political issues. “We agreed to resume supplies of meat and wine from Moldova to Russia,” Vladimir Putin said. The President of the Russian Federation noted that Russian and Moldovan specialists will carry out joint inspections of product quality at Moldovan enterprises. “As a first step, we will do this on a one-window basis, through special enterprises, in order to further support these products and prevent counterfeiting,” Putin said.