Lukashenka calls actions of Russia in Georgia “beautiful”

Alyaksandr Lukashenka called actions of Russia during the war in Georgia quiet and accurate. “Everything has been done perfect, in a very calm, wise and beautiful manner,” A. Lukashenka said in Sochi at the meeting with Russian President Dzmitry Medvedev. “Russia has done everything very accurately,” the Belarusian ruler added, noting that actions of the West in the same situation would be such that “the whole world would be stirred”.

Lukashenka noted that actions of the Russian Federation for settlement the conflict are to contribute to peace in the region “for long times”.

He believes that the events “nudge us to some not simple actions in the framework of the union state”.

Lukashenka underlined that “never called that [Russia’s actions in Georgia] a war”. He noted once again that everything was done by Russia in a calm manner.

As we have informed, today Alyaksandr Lukashenka meets with Russian president Dmitry Medvedev in Sochi. As informed by Russian officials, during the meeting the heads of the states are to discuss issues of transition to market formation of prices, preparation to the CIS summit, as well as Russia’s war with Georgia and the stance of Belarus towards it.

The Ambassador of Russia to Belarus Alexander Surikov criticized the Belarusian authorities for “keeping timid silence” in the situation in South Ossetia. To his mind, Moscow expected humanitarian aid and “words of support”. Next day Lukashenka expressed condolences to victims, and yesterday evening 63 tons of humanitarian aid were delivered to Vladikavkaz from Belarus.

On August 13 at the meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin Belarusian Prime Minister Syarhei Sidorski tried to achieve lower price for gas I 2009 (Gazprom plans to raise it to $200 per 1,000 cubic metres), and a long-time loan of $2 bn. But talks on economic topics were postponed till the beginning of autumn.

The position of Belarus towards the conflict in South Ossetia caused the proposal to Alyaksandr Lukashenka to find agreement with Russian president Dmitry Medvedev first.