About: http://data.cimple.eu/news-article/2cd1a1d086dcccd5e43f548d675d35d112d6ec45e8f088dfbb28055c     Goto   Sponge   NotDistinct   Permalink

An Entity of Type : schema:NewsArticle, within Data Space : data.cimple.eu associated with source document(s)

AttributesValues
rdf:type
schema:articleBody
  • The Kremlin is pushing Belarus to merge with Russia in exchange for cheap energy, the Belarusian leader said Friday, as Russian strongman Vladimir Putin is believed to be manoeuvring to extend his stay in power. In recent months Belarusian strongman Alexander Lukashenko has repeatedly complained that Moscow has been pressuring his country into closer integration with a view towards outright unification. On a visit to southeastern Belarus on Friday, Lukashenko told officials of his talks with Putin in the Black Sea resort of Sochi last week. The Russian leadership hinted "at the incorporation of Belarus in return for unified energy prices," Lukashenko said, quoted by his office. Lukashenko said he is "convinced that neither Russians nor Belarusians will ever want to follow this path." Observers say the Kremlin has been looking for a way for Putin to prolong his time in power after his fourth presidential term ends in 2024 and is exploring a number of options. Putin, who first became president 20 years ago, could circumvent presidential term limits and become the head of a new unified state if Lukashenko buckles under pressure and agrees for Belarus to join Russia, analysts say. Belarus, an ex-Soviet state sandwiched between Russia and the European Union, has for years relied on Russia for cheap oil and loans. The two have formed a nominal "union" with close trade and military cooperation but Moscow now wants deeper integration. Russia and Belarus have failed to agree on prices of energy supplies for 2020. Moscow has drastically reduced oil supplies to Minsk and last week's Sochi talks did not lead to a breakthrough. Lukashenko has been seeking to improve ties with the West and diversify his country's energy supplies to reduce its near-total dependence on Russia. Last month Belarus began importing oil from Norway. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visited Minsk in early February and dangled the prospect of cheap US oil imports. Putin voiced scepticism over Belarus's stated intentions to continue buying oil elsewhere, Lukashenko's presidential office said. It quoted Putin as saying: "Why would you do this if it is still more expensive than Russian (oil)?" Lukashenko insisted he would continue to pursue other options "not to be kneeling down (towards Russia) every December 31," in an apparent reference to energy price negotiations. tk-as/am/rl
schema:headline
  • Putin offers Belarus cheap energy for joining Russia: Lukashenko
schema:mentions
schema:author
schema:datePublished
http://data.cimple...sPoliticalLeaning
http://data.cimple...logy#hasSentiment
http://data.cimple...readability_score
Faceted Search & Find service v1.16.115 as of Oct 09 2023


Alternative Linked Data Documents: ODE     Content Formats:   [cxml] [csv]     RDF   [text] [turtle] [ld+json] [rdf+json] [rdf+xml]     ODATA   [atom+xml] [odata+json]     Microdata   [microdata+json] [html]    About   
This material is Open Knowledge   W3C Semantic Web Technology [RDF Data] Valid XHTML + RDFa
OpenLink Virtuoso version 07.20.3238 as of Jul 16 2024, on Linux (x86_64-pc-linux-musl), Single-Server Edition (126 GB total memory, 11 GB memory in use)
Data on this page belongs to its respective rights holders.
Virtuoso Faceted Browser Copyright © 2009-2025 OpenLink Software