BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

21/12/2006

Moscow slams U.S. diplomat's statements about Russia-Belarus relations

MOSCOW. Dec 21 (Interfax) - The Russian Foreign Ministry has expressed dismay at U.S. Ambassador to Belarus Karen Stuart's comment on Russian-Belarussian relations.

In a statement on Thursday, the ministry said that such statements were improper and distorted the real state of affairs.

"Bilateral talks are currently underway on the further development of [Russian-Belarussian] cooperation in the energy sphere with both sides seeing the transfer of this cooperation to universal market principles as one of the main facets of this cooperation.

"Reproaching Russia for that, accusing it of energy blackmail means to turn everything upside down while pursuing some goals that are far from being full of sincere care for Belarus," the statement says.

On December 19, Stuart, asked whether Belarus might lose some of its sovereignty if it sold its energy or gas transportation facilities to Russia.

She added that this was a complicated question and that it was hard to say whether or not it was possible to cede partial control over distribution networks.

She stressed that energy must not be used as a weapon in interstate relations.

Source:

http://www.interfax.com/3/225555/news.aspx