BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

15/01/2007

Belarus differs with Russia on union state: Lukashenko

Belarus and Russia differ in approaches to and views on the formation of a union state, Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko said on Sunday.

"After all the consultations and talks, I understood that we have different approaches and understanding of how the union state should be built. The union must be built based on the principles of equality," Lukashenko was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying.

Lukashenko said Belarus does not want to form a union state by becoming part of Russia, noting that "As Belarus' first president, I don't want to bury the country's sovereignty and independence."

Belarus and Russia are building a union state under an agreement signed in 1999, which envisaged close political, economic and military ties.

Lukashenko made the comment just two days after the two countries resolved the weeks-long dispute over energy prices.

The two sides signed a three-year agreement on Friday, under which Russia will cut the duty on oil exports to Belarus to 53 U.S. dollars, down from the 180 dollars, and Belarus will share with Moscow a substantial amount of profits from the refined oil products it sells to Europe.

Belarus also reached a deal with the Russian gas giant Gazprom in the last minutes of 2006, agreeing to buy Russian gas at 100 dollars per 1,000 cubic meters in 2007, more than double the 46.7 dollars it paid last year. Gazprom agreed to pay more for its gas supplies to Europe through Belarus.

"I hope the period of crisis in relations has passed. It was an intensive, brief and very dangerous period of crisis," Lukashenko said.

Source: Xinhua

Source:

http://english.people.com.cn/200701/15/eng20070115_341213.html