The FINANCIAL — Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has no intentions of talking with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko during a forthcoming Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) informal summit, Russian respected business daily Kommersant said, according to Ria Novosti.
Medvedev has accused Lukashenko of his failure to deliver on a promise to recognize the independence of the former Georgian republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Last week, Lukashenko said Belarus had not recognized the republics because Russia refused support with the consequences of such a step.
Medvedev has no plans of holding a bilateral meeting with Lukashenko during the summit, the paper said citing a source in the Russian Foreign Ministry.
Lukashenko may also cancel his trip to Armenia like he did last year during the Belarusian-Russian "dairy war," Kommersant said.
The Belarusian president promised to recognize the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia on August 3. Lukashenko made his promise in the presence of several CIS leaders, Medvedev said.
Kremlin aide Sergei Prikhodko said on Saturday the Kremlin was ready to publish the transcript of the CSTO meeting, during which Lukashenko said he was ready to recognize South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
Belarus may also back out on its deal with Russia's nuclear power export monopoly Atomstroyexport on the construction of a nuclear power plant in the ex-Soviet republic, Lukashenko said last week.
Russia recognized South Ossetia and Abkhazia two weeks after the end of a five-day war with Georgia in August 2008.
The move was heavily criticized by Western powers. So far, only Venezuela, Nicaragua and the tiny island nation of Nauru have followed suit.
The CSTO informal summit will be held in the Armenian capital of Yerevan on August 20-21.
