Trade dispute between Russia and Belarus is getting worse

The Belarusian government delegation is making a new attempt in the coming days to negotiate a compromise.

Relations between Russia and Belarus are in crisis, again. Superficially, it is about meat, gas, oil, arbitrary border controls, etc., but if you look deeper, these are tests for fundamental relations between two Slavic "brotherly countries."

“If we have to choose between oil and independence, we choose independence,” President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko thundered in the past. To date, there is no solution to this dispute. The Belarusian government delegation hopes to make a new attempt to reach a compromise in the coming days.

A ban on all imports of beef and poultry from Belarus is not a new tactic: rotten meat, low-quality chicken or milk were regularly found when Moscow needed to resolve a dispute with its neighbors - be it political or economic issues. Russia plays the role of the largest market for Belarus, and in the past has played an important role for Ukraine, Moldova or Georgia, which makes it possible to exert tremendous pressure.