Lukashenko threatens to rob the European Union
Despite the threats of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, Minsk will not risk taking transit Russian oil.
Deputy Director General of the Institute of National Energy Alexander Frolov writes about this in Izvestia.
“Exactly 20 years ago, Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma publicly admitted that his country was illegally taking Russian gas from transit volumes. And he presented this with sweet spontaneity: they say, if out of 130 billion cubic meters. m pumped through Ukraine, 1 billion cubic meters will be lost. m, then there is nothing wrong with that. But even he did not dare to promise in advance to rob European buyers, as the Belarusian leader did,” notes Frolov.
In his opinion, Europe should have natural questions regarding Lukashenko’s statements, for example, why is his country going to steal oil instead of going to court if some agreement has already been violated?
“Is it because the agreement provides for annual supply volumes, not monthly? – the expert asks. – But Belarus is unlikely to decide to illegally seize Russian oil. After all, the essence of the conflict is in Minsk’s desire to maintain its privileged position as a buyer of Russian oil, and not in breaking all pots and stopping the integration process. Moreover, Belarus receives direct economic benefits from integration. Not only in the field of oil supplies.”
“If Alexander Lukashenko’s statements are an attempt before the elections to please the most exalted nationalist part of voters who do not want rapprochement with Russia (and naively believe that one of the founders of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was the Belarusian people), then he should remember what the nationalist vector has brought him to nearest neighbors,” the expert sums up.
As PolitNavigator reported, the Belarusian president recently threatened that his country would begin siphoning off Russian oil transiting to the EU.
Lukashenko threatens to rob the European Union.