https://twitter.com/KasBelarus/status/1 ... 4399561729Lukashenko instructed leadership of #Belarus|ian petrochemical branch to provide oil supply from alternative sources. First of all, railway supply from Baltic ports and transport via pipeline #Druzhba are meant.
https://twitter.com/akihheikkinen/statu ... 7512245250#Belarus #oil company BNK will import crude from #Norway's Johan Sverdrup field via #Lithuania's Klaipeda port this month because of a supply row with #Russia
https://twitter.com/AlexKokcharov/statu ... 6692764672In #Belarus, the new #defence minister Viktar Khrenin ordered to conduct a sudden combat readiness test of the armed forces
https://twitter.com/akihheikkinen/statu ... 2216761347Interesting. Previous top brass was booted suddenly and new ones were picked apparently for loyalty to Belarus above anything else. And now sudden readiness test.
https://www.rferl.org/a/belarus-pompeo- ... 10618.htmlBelarus's longtime ruler ordered a major shake-up of the country's military and security command on January 20, installing a new defense minister, a new general staff chief, and a new head of the Security Council.
A few days later, President Alyaksandr Lukashenka ripped into the country's eastern neighbor, whose oil exports are a major part of Belarus' creaky economy. Russia had "screwed us," he said, using an even more explicit phrase.
On January 30, Belarus's military went on alert after the new commanders ordered snap exercises to "check combat readiness" and "their readiness to fulfill their mission in a rapidly changing environment."
Oh, and the U.S. secretary of state arrives in Minsk on February 1 -- the highest-level visit by a U.S. official since John Bolton, then the White House national-security adviser, traveled there five months ago.
....
Defense Minister Andrey Raukou was promoted to become head of the national Security Council, a coordinating body comprising several security, intelligence, and law enforcement agencies. He replaced Slanislau Zas, who became head of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, a six-nation alliance dominated by Russia.
The commander of the country's Western Operational Command, Major General Viktar Khrenin, replaced Raukou as defense minister. And Major General Alyaksandr Valfovich was tapped to become chief of the general staff, and Khrenin's first deputy.
"Times are hard now," Lukashenka said as he made the announcement on January 20. "This doesn't mean there's going to be a war tomorrow and we'll have to fight someone, not at all. But a military organization cannot tolerate uncertainty."
https://twitter.com/franakviacorka/stat ... 7151398912Pompeo apparently proposed to supply oil to Belarus to fulfill its 100% oil needs, - State Belarus media report
Pompeo: 'We are not ready to lift all the sanctions against Belarus.'
The worsening situation with Human Rights is apparently the primary reason.
https://twitter.com/AlexKokcharov/statu ... 7467500544Belarus opinion #poll: only 3.7% Belarusians would support accession into #Russia, and 12.8% support the Union State with Russia. 74.6% support the current status quo, including Belarus' sovereignty and independence
И не только обсудили вопросы, как Владимир Владимирович сказал, представляющие взаимный интерес, но которые касаются и многих наших соседей, бывших стран Советского Союза, той политики, которая сейчас проводится нами, ими.
https://sprotyv.info/news/do-glubiny-se ... ym-v-sochi
Между тем, ранее в пятницу российские СМИ сообщали о том, что по сведениям источников, близких к переговорам, 7 февраля на встрече с Лукашенко Путин будет требовать ускорения интеграции. По словам источника, решение вопроса с поставками российского нефти будет жестко увязываться с требованиями по реализации плана интеграции. В него входит создание наднациональных органов власти, единой валюты и единого эмиссионного центра.
https://twitter.com/MSnegovaya/status/1 ... 0059561984Bloomberg writes Putin tried to convince Lukashenko to create a Union-state of Belarus and Russia. Lukashenko gave a final "no". Yesterday Solovey claimed that the Kremlin is considering another war. Hence Kremlin may be considering an attack on Belarus in the coming days.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles ... ter-russiaLukashenko said in an interview with Russia’s leading talk radio station on Dec. 24 that Putin once offered him a parliamentary job in Moscow if he allowed their two countries to unite.
Asked by Ekho Moskvy about getting dragged into Putin’s plans for staying in power after 2024, the Belarusian leader said, “I’m not involved in this and I will never be. And I told this to your president. I don’t need anyone to give me some parliament post in Russia -- even if they convict me and bring me there in handcuffs! Never!”
https://www.reuters.com/article/belarus ... SL8N2AB2O9Belarus has started dipping into reserve oil on Russia’s Druzhba pipeline to Europe, a state company said, despite Minsk and Moscow being still without a contract for supplies this year.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko last week failed to agree a new oil deal.
Minsk is running out of crude and oil products as its refineries are receiving only a third of the feedstock they need.
The oil Belarus is tapping is so-called technical oil used to maintain pressure and the offtake is not affecting Europe-bound flows of Russian crude, state energy company Belneftekhim said.
“Intake is carried from the lines which are not used in the transit,” company spokesman Alexander Tischenko said.
“This is technological oil and this is our oil ...Transit volumes are unaffected. This is a temporary measure.”
Belarus, an ex-Soviet state, is a major export route for Russian oil and gas to Europe.
Russia also wants to keep Belarus in its orbit, and Minsk for years received discounted resources and loans in exchange.
Moscow is again pushing for closer political and economic integration with Minsk, but Lukashenko opposes deeper ties dubbed ‘Union State’.
With presidential elections this year, he refused to sign a new oil deal with Russia for 2020.
Without one, Russia halted flows to Belarus on Jan. 1.
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