Russia ready to follow any scenario acceptable for Belarus to develop bilateral relations

"We are ready to follow any development scenario our Belarussian partners find acceptable, we do not peddle anything," the Kremlin officials have been quoted as saying. The only thing Russia wants to understand is what the Belarussian partners really want and which formula they chose to create the Union State. Alexander Lukashenko proposed to create the Union State provided that both countries preserve their sovereignty. The Kremlin is puzzled. "Whether it is one state or two independent countries?" In line with the constitutional law, only one country can be sovereign. Two sovereignties imply that "we do not create a union state, but strive to establish a sort of an interstate union or an international organisation." The Kremlin emphasises that Russia "does not peddle any of the /unification/ scenarios proposed." "If this all is about a union state, then there should be one president, one parliament, elections and a referendum. If we preserve the sovereignty /of Belarus/, then we should automatically apply this requirement to Russia." The draft Union Act, which Belarus has submitted to the Russian side, envisages that Belarus should enjoy sovereignty and veto right. The Kremlin believes that this means that the Union Parliament will take certain economic decisions, while Belarus will resort to its veto right to pass the decisions it likes and ban those it does not. If so, the preference shall be given to the European model, i.e. to guarantee the inviolability of sovereignty by creating an organisation whose structure will resemble the European Union. For instance, the European parliament adopts decisions non-binding for all EU member states since they are to be ratified by national legislatures and approved by national leaders. This scheme is "a hundred-percent guarantee of sovereignty observation." At the same time, the Kremlin notes that even this model "implies losing part of sovereignty" and one ought to understand this.

The Soviet Union is often referred to as a possible model for the Russo-Belarussian Union State. "Did the former Soviet republics have their own banks of issue to print money? This is a sort of economic nonsense," the Kremlin thinks.

The Kremlin firmly believes that Russia and Belarus will "be cooperating no matter what." "Both historically and ethnically, the separation of our peoples is alien to nature." "Our cause is not to rule or oppress someone. We are eager to find a mutually acceptable solution," the Kremlin officials say. The most important thing in this regard is whether Russia and Belarus have enough political will to do this. The Kremlin fairly believes that both sides do.