At the Summit of CSTO in Sochi Putin and Lukashenka may not have a face-to-face meeting

CSTO Summit has opened on September 23 in Sochi, Russia with an adoption of a statement on Syria problem. Lukashenka-Putin bilateral meeting is not scheduled to take place there so far.

Let us recall that CSTO includes 6 countries – Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan. Two issues are high on the agenda at this summit: the protection of Tajikistan-Afghanistan border and Syria problem. 

As RFE/RL reports, a meeting of CSTO foreign ministers, defense ministers, and Security Council secretaries in the Russian city of Sochi adopted a statement expressing concern about the situation in Syria, saying that its members "advocate efforts to achieve peace, stability, prosperity, and progress in Syria."

Russian President Vladimir Putin told journalists following the meeting that members are "unanimous" in supporting "peaceful political means" for resolving the Syrian conflict. He also warned against the spread of terrorism from one country to another and expressed concern that militants from Syria or Afghanistan could infiltrate CSTO countries.

On September 18, Mr. Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said that the Kremlin expected the Russian president to have a meeting with his Belarusian counterpart on the side-lines of the summit. However, two days later, Mr. Putin's aide Yury Ushakov said that there were no plans for such a meeting, recalls BelaPAN.

Mr. Ushakov made clear on the same day that the Kremlin was concerned about the delay in the handover of Vladislav Baumgertner, director general of Russian potash producer Uralkali, to Russia. "This process has been protracted a bit," the Interfax news agency quoted him as saying. "Yesterday's remarks by the Belarusian leader make it possible to hope that this matter will be resolved in the near future."

Mr. Lukashenka said on Thursday that the Russian executive may be extradited to Russia "for investigation."

Political analyst Valery Karbalevich linked the uncertainty surrounding the possibility of a meeting between Messrs. Lukashenka and Putin to Mr. Baumgertner's arrest. The Kremlin wants Mr. Baumgertner to be released before such a meeting could take place, while Minsk wants the executive to remain in jail, he said. If Mr. Baumgertner is not released but a meeting between the Belarusian and Russian leaders still takes place, it will mean Minsk's psychological victory over Moscow, Mr. Karbalevich concluded.