BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

24/12/2008

Belarus may recognise Georgian rebels in 2009: Lukashenko

MOSCOW (AFP) - Belarus early next year will consider following Russia's lead in recognising the independence of two Georgian rebel regions, the country's president Alexander Lukashenko said Wednesday.

He also said Russia would drastically slash the price it charges Belarus for natural gas, in comments carried by Interfax news agency.

"After the New Year our parliament will consider these questions," he said, referring to the possibility that Minsk might recognise South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent states.

"If the people and parliament have the will for this, then the president will sign the corresponding order," he said, according to Interfax. The Belarussian parliament is dominated by Lukashenko loyalists.

Lukashenko added that the topic had come up in talks with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in Moscow on Monday: "Questions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia were a detail in our talks," he said.

He also said that Russia had agreed to cut the price it charges Belarus for gas by as much as two-thirds.

"It will be a falling price. From January 1, 2009 to December 31, 2009 it will drop by two-and-a-half to three times, and through the year as a whole the price will be acceptable to us," he was quoted as saying.

"Belarus is grateful to the Russian side, and we will not remain in its debt," Lukashenko added, without elaborating.

Russian media reports have said that Moscow pressured Minsk to recognise Abkhazia and South Ossetia in exchange for a better deal on gas prices.

Belarus has yet to recognise the independence of the two regions, despite the fact that the former Soviet republic is Moscow's staunchest ally.

So far only Russia and Nicaragua have recognised the regions, which were at the heart of the Russia-Georgia war in August.

Source:

http://nz.news.yahoo.com/a/-/world/5231912/belarus-may-recognise-georgian-rebels-in-2009-lukashenko/

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