EurAsEC Kyiv meeting to discuss loan for Belarus
MINSK. May 31 (Interfax) - The possibility of granting a loan to help Belarus tackle its financial problems will be discussed at a session of the Anti-Crisis Fund of the Eurasian Economic Community (EurAsEC) in Kyiv on June 4.
"It is totally clear that Russia will have a key and decisive say on whether to give Belarus this loan or not. [Belarusian President] Alexander Lukashenko currently needs $9 billion," a Russian diplomatic source told Interfax in Moscow.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is in Minsk today to attend a ministerial meeting of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO).
Lukashenko is expected to meet with all of the foreign ministers of CSTO member states simultaneously.
"The program does not envision a bilateral meeting between Lukashenko and Lavrov. Such a bilateral meeting is unlikely to take place, especially bearing in mind the criticism expressed by Lukashenko in relation to the Russian minister yesterday," the source said.
The Belarusian leader said earlier that he was "laughing at statements" made by Lavrov, who criticized violations of human rights in Belarus.
If a decision is made to grant a loan to Belarus, "most of the money will certainly be provided by Russia because other EurAsEC member countries will be able to give just small sums," the source said, adding that "this decision would be adopted at the highest level."
The source confirmed that Belarusian citizens were suffering from financial difficulties because their salaries had dropped but prices in the country's shops had soared.
"We have warned Lukashenko: both Premier [Vladimir] Putin and Finance Minister of Russia Alexei Kudrin have already visited [Belarus]," he said.