Vladimir Putin and Sergei Sidorsky's meeting was not overshadowed by Alexander Lukashenko.
When Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin met with Belarusian Prime Minister Sergei Sidorsky yesterday, he didn't utter a word about Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, who, on the contrary, said quite a bit about him just the other day. Kommersant's special correspondent Andrei Kolesnikov thinks that the Russian Prime Minister simply decided to look the other way - at least until the Belarusian President comes to his senses.
Reporters were all eagerly anticipating Sergei Sidorsky's visit to Moscow. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko decided to stir up their interest by reproaching Vladimir Putin, mainly about Russia's aggression towards Belarus in the gas sphere. Both Russian and Belarusian reporters were anxiously awaiting a proper response from Vladimir Putin. The reporters all arrived at Putin's official residence in Novo-Ogaryovo yesterday and refused to give any comments - perhaps waiting for the Russian Prime Minister to answer.
But no one got an answer out of him. He greeted Sidorsky, who seated himself across from him, beside his gloomy associates from the Belarusian government, who, interestingly enough, all seemed to share the same age, profession, complexion and even suits.
Vladimir Putin told them that the Council of Ministers of the Union State of Russia and Belarus should meet later this month, on October 28, 2009, and that both countries would "meet in a summit of the Union State's Supreme State Council" in December.
Notably, Putin didn't say that the Council of Ministers meeting would actually take place on October 28, and he spoke about the Supreme State Council meeting as if Sergei Sidorsky were the only one who could represent Belarus (admittedly, it's hard to imagine that Alexander Lukashenko would come to Moscow, and just as inconceivable to think the Russian government would greet him with open arms. To avoid each other is in the interests of both parties).
All things considered, it's quite possible that Lukashenko's emotional speech to Russian reporters about Vladimir Putin will result in only one thing - Putin completely ignoring the Belarusian President, in accordance with the "Georgian model of behaviour".
Putin expressed his intention to ignore Alexander Lukashenko at yesterday's meeting with Sidorsky: it would be strange, indeed, to respond to the reproaches made by the person whom you decided to ignore, especially if you're meeting with a person who not only said nothing bad in your address, but even went so far as to ask to meet with you in Moscow.
"Despite the global economic crisis... and the problems with our economies... trade between Russia and Belarus is being restored," the Russian Prime Minister said. "Belarusian products imported to Russia have grown in number a bit... and Russian products imported by Belarus have fallen in number a bit..."
Sidorsky listened to Vladimir Putin with an air of detachment. He remained still and seemed to have prepared for the worst, just like his associates. By all appearances, Sidorsky was prepared for anything Putin had to say. He must have been pleasantly surprised to receive a warm welcome in Moscow and hear nothing that would make him blush when reporting it back to his President.
Meanwhile, Putin reminded him that Belarus enjoys the lowest prices for Russian natural gas among all the other CIS countries and "the oil duty there is lower than in other CIS countries, which is helping Belarusian oil refineries get through the crisis".
It took the Russian Prime Minister some time to name any other benefits that Russia has granted to Belarus.
Sergei Sidorsky remained unemotional during Putin's speech, as if the latter were addressing everyone else but him. Sidorsky might have made a great effort to avoid nodding to the Russian Prime Minister, even when he wanted to show politeness, because he wanted to ensure that he'd neither confirm nor deny anything with this gesture.
Regardless of which of the two lines Sidorsky chose, he was bound to disappoint one of the two parties. His position at that moment was certainly not an enviable one.
The Belarusian Prime Minister took a while to begin speaking. He seemed to be studying the presentation papers in front of him before plucking up the courage to read them out loud. Apparently, he understood that he was walking on eggshells - his words could easily be used to discredit him, especially in his home country.
Either way, Alexander Lukashenko is unlikely to praise Sergei Sidorsky for his speech: Sidorsky finally stopped looking at his papers and said everything he wanted without their help, meaning it was an off-the-cuff speech, not one agreed upon with Lukashenko. More importantly, Sidorsky was no longer still and impassive: judging by his tone, one would get the impression that he supported Putin's line over Lukashenko's.
He thanked the Russian Prime Minister for making time to meet with him. Sidorsky said that the Belarusian government is in the process of developing a joint cooperation plan for all businesses, including gas and oil supplies from Russia.
"We've developed a programme", he said, "and invited Igor Sechin to discuss this issue (mainly about fixing Belarus's debt through Russian gas supplies)... I'd like to fill you in on it..."
On the one hand, it's rather obvious that Putin intends to monitor the discussion himself (otherwise, why should Igor Sechin take part in it?). Yet, on the other hand, Sidorsky must have his own opinion on the size of this debt and why Belarus cannot pay it back.
Concluding his speech, Sidorsky said that if Belarus cooperated with Russia in space exploration, it had the potential to become a world leader in this area. This statement, just like everything else that Sidorsky said in his speech, seemed entirely justified.
After this, the negotiations moved behind closed doors, which will undoubtedly soon allow Sidorsky to become a newsmaker for foreign reporters, just like his superior.
Andrei Kolesnikov