BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS
DATE:
17/06/2009
Russia-Belarus 'Milk War' Over, Trade To Resume - Official
MOSCOW (AFP) -- Russian will resume importation of Belarusian dairy products, a Russian official said Wednesday, resolving a "milk war" that had driven a wedge between the longtime allies.
Deliveries will begin again Thursday morning, Russian public health chief Gennady Onishchenko told news agency Interfax.
"We have signed an agreement that satisfies both Belarus and Russia," Onishchenko said, according to the RIA Novosti agency.
The agreement was a result of negotiations Wednesday in Moscow between the two sides, Belarusian television reported.
Russia announced on June 6 it was banning the import of 500 dairy products from ally and former Soviet neighbor Belarus.
It was a move widely seen as politically motivated amid deteriorating ties between the two countries.
Minsk branded the ban "discriminatory" and boycotted a regional security summit in Russia.
Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev hit back, accusing his counterpart in Belarus, President Alexander Lukashenko, of becoming "hysterical" over the trade dispute.
Tensions had been rising for several months before the "milk war" broke out.
Moscow has been angered at Belarus's moves to seek closer ties with the European Union, while Lukashenko has blasted Moscow for dragging its feet on a loan to the cash-strapped country.
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