MINSK, 1 June (BelTA) - Russia's support is important for Belarus as the West is threatening to impose new sanctions against Belarus, Aleksei Dzermant, a political analyst and a researcher at the Institute of Philosophy of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, told the Respublika newspaper, BelTA has learned.
“We were waiting for the results of the meeting between Aleksandr Lukashenko and Vladimir Putin in Sochi with special attention and interest. The information and political agenda around the Ryanair incident and around our country in general was very heated. But Belarus was nothing to blame for. The media hysteria had been planned before. It was not just an improvisation on the topic of international air travel rules. The meeting was important not only because the presidents declared similar assessments of that situation. It also reaffirmed the alliance between the two countries,” the expert said. “Before the meeting there was an anti-Belarus campaign in the media regarding its actions and Russia's reaction to them. They argued that Russia should not support Belarus in this case. Or that this may hurt the prospects of the Putin-Biden summit. There were also strange ultimatums to immediately release Russian citizen Sofia Sapega, who was also on board the Ryanair plane and who was detained after the security checks and charged with grave crimes in Belarus,” the expert continued.
According to the expert, the target of these attacks was not the Russian-American relations and not even the Russian citizen. “She, by the way, has a residence permit in Belarus, which means she has pledged to obey the laws of our country. The real goal was to drive a wedge between Belarus and Russia, to cast a shadow on the Belarusian-Russian alliance and its prospects. They wanted to portray Belarus as a pariah country allegedly committing worst crimes possible and to try to prevent Russia from declaring its support for the ally. But the meeting of the presidents completely ruined the plans. Judging by their communication, their mood it is clear that our relations are on a completely different track, a track of mutual respect and understanding," Aleksei Dzermant is sure.
The meeting lasted for five hours on the first day of the visit. The communication continued the following day, Aleksei Dzermant pointed out. “This means that the negotiations had a packed agenda and were meaningful. Of course, their contents have not been fully disclosed yet,” he stressed. “There are concrete results, for example, the transfer of the second $500 million tranche of the state loan and the launch of new flights of the Belarusian air carrier Belavia to destinations in Russia. Such support is very important amid statements and threats of western politicians to suffocate Belarus with more sanctions. It is nothing new for us. We have faced sanctions for our independent stance and our tough response to the attacks of the West on our statehood and values. Sanctions do not affect us too much mainly thanks to our close relations with Russia. The majority of Belarusians support the union with Russia and we see that this union is effective despite certain problems,” he added.
According to Aleksei Dzermant, without the union with Russia and the common defense strategy, Belarus could have faced the fate of former Yugoslavia. “The West made an example of Serbia by punishing it for its stance with military intervention, and inflicted pain and humiliation on our brotherly Slavic nation. Another brotherly nation – Ukrainians – is an example of how one can destroy their own sovereignty and statehood almost completely with their own hands, turning the country in a gray instability zone. They wanted to do the same with Belarus, attempting to stage a color revolution and a coup, but failed, mainly because our allies – Russia and China – stood by us. Independent Belarus is important for them. Our main problem now lies in the economy due to the possible impact of western sanctions. This is why we should take the Belarusian-Russian economic relations to a new level. The presidents have confirmed this goal and gave specific instructions to achieve it,” he said.
