Monday, 15 June 2009
Russia will resume discussions on Monday with Belarus on resuming the country's dairy exports, which Moscow has banned over health concerns, Russia's chief sanitary official said.
Russia banned imports of dairy products, one of Belarus's key exports, earlier this month, saying the ex-Soviet republic had failed to comply with new Russian regulations. Minsk boycotted a security summit in Moscow on Sunday in protest at what it called "economic discrimination".
"We have agreed that [Belarusian] experts will arrive on Monday, and we will outline our priorities. We are prepared for cooperation, we have always been ready for cooperation," Gennady Onishchenko said, adding however that Russia would make no concessions on the issue.
An aide to Belarus's agriculture minister said on Monday that the problem could be resolved within a week.
"Within two days we will prepare all samples, which will be sent to [Russian regulator] Rospotrepnadzor labs. I believe the problem will be settled within a week," Kazimir Romanovsky was quoted by the Belarusian news agency Belta as saying.
Romanovsky said Belarus's dairy exports to Russia are worth $1 billion a year.
Relations between the former Soviet republics have been strained in recent years, over growing prices for Russian natural gas, and Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko's efforts to strengthen ties with the West and move out of Moscow's sphere of influence.
Lukashenko cancelled plans to take part in a summit of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), which groups Russia, Belarus, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan.
Russia President Dmitry Medvedev criticized Lukashenko for failing to personally contact him to discuss Belarus's refusal to attend.
