Expert Makarkin: Minsk, Astana wish to distance themselves from Kremlin in Ukraine issue
MOSCOW. Dec 22 (Interfax) - Stepped up contacts between Kyiv and the Belarusian and Kazakh presidents do not mean a rift in their relations with Russia in the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) but demonstrate their wish to distance themselves from Moscow in the Ukrainian crisis and take a neutral stand, said Alexei Makarkin, First Vice-President of the Center for Political Technologies.
"Nazarbayev is offering his mediation services. And Lukashenko has actually become an intermediary by providing a venue for negotiations where the known Minsk agreements were signed in September. It's a different story that these countries wish to distance themselves from Russia and be neutral," Makarkin told Interfax on Monday.
A reason why Minsk and Astana are taking these steps is that they think Moscow did not ask for advice of its closest partners in making major decisions, the policy expert said.
"As Belarus and Kazakhstan belong to the CSTO and the EEU, Moscow obviously expected that they would be friendlier to the Russian position in the Ukraine situation. Yet there is a certain problem. Moscow has not coordinated its decision with them, and this is a traditional source of irritation for these countries. They wonder why the U.S. president calls the British prime minister, his closest ally, whenever he wants to strike someone. They do not understand why Russia, as a member of these unions, fails to coordinate its decisions and actions with the allies," the expert said.
There have been signs indicating that Moscow's allies are ready to take this course of action in international politics, he noted. "There have been such examples. Belarus was dissatisfied when the recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia was on the agenda. It might have been a pretext used by Minsk to deny them recognition. But I believe it was a real grudge: we are allies and we have to coordinate everything," Makarkin said.
The extremely cautious attitude of the Belarusian and Kazakh leaders to the possibility of strong political integration with Moscow is an important factor, the expert said.
"Both Lukashenko and Nazarbayev fear excessively strong political integration within the Eurasian Union. They think that the Customs Union is okay. It is advantageous for the economies of these countries. But the attitude is totally different whenever political integration is discussed. Lukashenko and Nazarbayev are trying to demonstrate their independence both to Russia and to the international community," he said.
It would be incorrect to view such initiatives by Minsk and Astana as indicators of a rift between the EEU founders but the purpose of this game is to convince Moscow that these countries, its allies, are independent, the policy expert said.
"Speaking of the EEU, the integration based on the Customs Union is not going anywhere. As to politics, Nazarbayev has exhibited the readiness to speak with the West on his own. These are the allies. They are complicated and sometimes inconvenient for Moscow but they are want Russia has. Lukashenko and Nazarbayev understand that, and so they are playing this game," Makarkin said.