Oleh Bilokolos: Many Will Become Known For Belarusians After Meeting On New Year’s Eve

The recent meeting between Lukashenka and Putin will be the subject of serious analysis in the Kremlin.

The meeting between Lukashenka and Putin on December 7 in Sochi regarding the integration of the two countries lasted for about five hours. It ended with nothing. Meanwhile, protests were held in Minsk - thousands of people oppose rapprochement with Russia, calling integration an occupation, comments.ua writes.

Oleh Bilokolos, an international expert and head of the board of the non-governmental organization Maidan of Foreign Affairs, described the situation as “it is clear that it is unclear”.

“Commenting on the Saturday talks between the presidents of Russia and Belarus, the Izvestia newspaper drew attention to the fact that during the high-level meeting dedicated to the twentieth anniversary of the “union state”, the light suddenly went out for a short time in the Bocharov Ruchei residence hall,” the expert has noted. “Obviously, this curious moment has already become, as they often say today in Russia, somewhat significant for the entire five-hour meeting, which, as you know, ended in nothing. But many in Moscow expected real “turning points”. Moreover, judging by the available and extremely scarce information, on December 7 in Sochi it was supposed to sign or announce a number of bilateral documents that would de facto create a common Russian-Belarusian political, economic, tax, social, information and cultural space.”

So far, according to Bilokolos, one thing is clear - the alleged set of documents about the so-called “deep Russian-Belarusian integration” has not been signed, and the meeting in Sochi is claimed to be the Russian “foreign policy failure of the year”, and will clearly become the subject of serious analysis in the Kremlin.

“It is still unclear whether Moscow will be able to achieve what it wants and integrate Belarus “in the Russian way” in future,” the expert continues. “Almost everything is covered in political obscurity, from which at times news comes that Minsk seems to be unprepared for both political integration, and a single currency. Much will obviously become known after the meeting, already scheduled for December 20, on New Year's 2020 Eve. Although, as is also well known, it’s not good to spread a sandwich with caviar in the darkness and in a hurry, let alone cooking the Olivier salad.”