An American company is sending a shipment of oil to Belarus this week, in a blow to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s drive to dominate the former Soviet satellite.
“It certainly will infuriate Russia, especially that it is U.S. oil,” a Baltic official told the Washington Examiner. “The Kremlin tries hard to hide any signs of disagreement with Belarus. This is impossible to hide.”
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo hailed the shipment as a bulwark of “Belarusian sovereignty and independence” in a Friday statement, emphasizing that the sale could be the first of many between the two countries. Such applause from the top American diplomat underscores how President Trump’s administration is reaching out to the small authoritarian state, which has had poor relations with the United States for years, in an effort to diminish Putin’s leverage over the country.
Trump’s national security team has courted Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, a strongman known as “Europe’s last dictator,” since last year. The outreach was a sign of Western concern that Putin, in an attempt to sidestep constitutional term limits that call for him to relinquish power, would try to unite Belarus and Russia in order to govern both nations under a new constitution.
“Russia made so many inroads into Belarus that many consider Belarus semi-independent,” the Baltic official said. “But the decision to buy American oil shows that Belarus wants to be more independent from Russia. That will bring some concerns in Moscow. Instead of having an obedient ally, Moscow might have an increasingly independent neighbor.”
Lukashenko balked at Putin’s unity plan. “It shows that Kremlin’s outreach has its limits, even with the closest allies,” the Baltic official said. “If Belarus continues showing bold signs of independence, then it might send messages to other Russia’s neighbors.”
The official added that the energy deal “might start more friendly Belarus relations with U.S.,” but Lukashenko’s authoritarian rule is an impediment to warmer ties.
“The United States urges Belarus to build on the progress it has made to increase the access of American businesses to its market and undertake the market-oriented, trade-liberalizing reforms necessary to advance its WTO accession process,” Pompeo said.
