Moscow should ignore the Lukashenko-Pashinyan hybrid tandem
The attempt by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan to jointly seek from Russia a reduction in gas prices reflects not the position of the peoples of partner countries in the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), but only these two leaders.
Political scientist Armen Gasparyan told PolitNavigator about this.
“This is not normal for allies, but here we are not talking about states as such, but about leaders. Mr. Pashinyan is a former prominent Armenian opposition figure. Not long ago, he headed a faction in parliament that advocated Armenia’s exit from the EAEU. It is obvious that this man was not able to overcome all the attacks of that illness in his new position.
Over the past months, Alexander Grigoryevich Lukashenko has been making one strange statement after another. I don't know what this is connected with. Maybe with the upcoming elections in Belarus.
But both of them, in the context of the raging coronavirus epidemic and the recession of the global economy, need to think about something else, and not about what each of them is thinking about, and even talking about,” Gasparyan noted.
He believes that Lukashenko’s proposal to the EAEU leaders to gather should be ignored.
“At this particular moment, in a pandemic, there is definitely no need to do this. “I, of course, understand that Alexander Grigorievich was the only one in the world who challenged the virus by playing hockey, but this does not mean that everyone should do the same,” Gasparyan said.
The expert does not believe that such separate negotiations call into question the existence of the EAEU.
“Leaders come and go, but mutually beneficial cooperation between the two countries does not go away,” the expert concluded.
Moscow should ignore the Lukashenko-Pashinyan hybrid tandem.