VZCZCXRO3343
RR RUEHAST
DE RUEHSK #0682/01 1791338
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 281338Z JUN 06
FM AMEMBASSY MINSK
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4614
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEHMO/AMEMBASSY MOSCOW 3498
RUEHKV/AMEMBASSY KIEV 3344
RUEHWR/AMEMBASSY WARSAW 3363
RUEHVL/AMEMBASSY VILNIUS 3721
RUEHRA/AMEMBASSY RIGA 1711
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 0319
RUEHVEN/USMISSION USOSCE 1194
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS
RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE
RUFOADA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 MINSK 000682 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV ECON EINV WTRO USTR BO
SUBJECT:  Media Focuses on Lukashenko and Putin at CSTO-EAEC Summit 
 
MINSK 00000682  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
¶1.  SUMMARY:  On June 23, the heads of state and foreign ministers 
of countries belonging to the Collective Security Treaty 
Organization (CSTO) and the Eurasian Economic Community (EAEC) met 
in Minsk for the organizations' tandem summits.  Belarusian media 
coverage focused heavily on statements by Belarusian President 
Lukashenko and Russian President Vladimir Putin on the major themes 
of the summit.  These themes included Uzbekistan's accession into 
the EAEC, the 2007 EAEC budget, the status of the EAEC customs 
union, EAEC's cooperation and integration with other regional 
economic organizations, future military-technical cooperation 
within the CSTO, and threats facing the organizations' member 
states.  However, conspicuously absent from the media coverage was 
any mention of bilateral meetings between Presidents Putin and 
Lukashenko, raising the possibility that pressing issues such as 
2007 gas prices for Belarus and Union State negotiations were not 
discussed or resolved.  END SUMMARY. 
 
Collective Security Treaty Organization 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶2.  The foreign ministers of the CSTO approved a draft declaration 
calling for measures to improve the efficiency of the alliance. 
[Note: the CSTO includes Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, 
Russia, and Tajikistan.]  They also discussed the military and 
political situation in the CSTO region and approved plans for 
consultations on foreign policy issues and joint actions to fight 
illegal trafficking in weapons.  The foreign ministers agreed to 
hold their next meeting in November. 
 
¶3.  Belarus' Foreign Minister Sergey Martynov said that Belarus, 
which assumed the rotating CSTO presidency at the summit, aims to 
enable the CSTO to respond to an array of challenges ranging from 
industrial accidents to NATO enlargement.  Martynov also identified 
new external threats to CSTO security such as illegal migration and 
trafficking in illicit drugs and weapons. 
 
¶4.  While speaking at the CSTO summit on June 23, President 
Lukashenko identified increasing the combat capabilities of the 
Belarusian-Russian Regional Group of Forces as a principal CSTO 
goal.  Lukashenko argued that the Group is essential to maintaining 
peace and stability in the region and guaranteeing the collective 
security of all CSTO member states.  Speaking at a news conference 
following the CSTO and EAEC summits, Lukashenko described Belarus 
as "120 percent ready to sacredly guard" the western border of the 
organization. 
 
¶5.  Lukashenko lauded the Concept of the CSTO Military-Technical 
Cooperation Program 2005-2010 as a considerable step toward 
integrating the member states' defense industries.  He advocated 
further enhancing cooperation among the defense ministries and 
security and law-enforcement agencies of CSTO members and called 
for a system for coordinating member states' foreign-policy 
activities.  According to Lukashenko, during its tenure as CSTO 
chair, Belarus plans to create a system of joint-response to 
natural and man-made emergencies.  Lukashenko suggested conducting 
an exercise in Belarus in 2007 to practice the management of an 
emergency caused by an act of terrorism. 
 
¶6.  The CSTO summit took place during a joint Belarusian-Russian 
military exercise called "Union Shield 2006."  During post-summit 
coverage, Russian Defense Minister and Vice Prime Minister Sergey 
Ivanov, who observed the final series of maneuvers on June 24, 
reportedly commented that the exercise was neither aggressive nor 
directed against any state.  [Note:  The exercise involved a 
hypothetical armed conflict between the fictional countries of 
Dviniia, played by Russia and Belarus, and Bugiia, which attempted 
to annex part of Dviniia.]  Belarusian Defense Minister Leonid 
Maltsev mentioned that the exercise was practice for defending the 
borders of the Union State. 
 
Eurasian Economic Community 
--------------------------- 
 
¶7.  The EAEC heads of state formally recognized Uzbekistan's EAEC 
accession and adopted resolutions concerning the EAEC's 2005 
budget, adjustments to the 2006 budget, and the 2007 budgetary 
policy.  [Note:  the EAEC consists of Belarus, Kazakhstan, 
Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.]  They also 
approved reports on integrating the Central Asian Cooperation 
Organization into the EAEC and on the progress of domestic 
procedures required for EAEC interstate agreements.  Meanwhile, 
high-level officials representing the central banks of EAEC members 
 
MINSK 00000682  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
held a meeting in Bishkeck, Kyrgyzstan to discuss exchange rate 
polices, monetary policies, payment systems, and the creation of a 
single date base. 
 
¶8.  In general, President Lukashenko's public statements at the 
EAEC meetings were positive.  For example, Lukashenko claimed that 
EAEC had significantly contributed to averting the disintegration 
of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).  He highlighted 
EAEC efforts at integration with other international organizations, 
including the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the Black Sea 
Economic Cooperation organization.  Furthermore, Lukashenko praised 
initiatives to form a single EAEC transport space within the bloc. 
He also praised the EAEC's annual report to heads of state. 
 
¶9.  However, at times Lukashenko was critical of the EAEC.  He 
remarked that the EAEC must reach agreements on specific projects 
rather than just conceptual frameworks.  Lukashenko said the EAEC 
should seek a greater role in the world economy and that EAEC 
countries should continue coordinating their accession to the World 
Trade Organization.  He asserted that Uzbekistan's accession has 
rendered EAEC objectives more ambitious. 
 
¶10.  Lukashenko also expressed concern regarding the slow pace of 
creating EAEC's customs union.  He claimed that overall unification 
of customs duties rates remains at 62 percent and described member 
states' efforts to unify rates as insufficient.  Lukashenko urged 
EAEC members to complete all domestic legislation required for the 
customs union by the end of 2006. 
 
¶11.  Lukashenko concurred with Kazakh President Nazarbayev that the 
EAEC should create a commission to monitor the implementation of 
EAEC agreements and resolutions.  Lukashenko said that the 
commission should establish common customs tariff, external trade, 
energy, and transportation policies.  Lukashenko called on the EAEC 
to develop a common energy policy including cooperative development 
of renewable energy sources and energy transit.  [Note: 
Independent media reported that Belarusian EAEC representative 
Andrey Kobyakov stated the EAEC had made no progress with respect 
to integration of energy and transportation systems.] 
 
¶12.  During the summit, Lukashenko formally passed the one-year 
EAEC rotating chairmanship to Russian President Vladimir Putin. 
Lukashenko also presented Belarus' Order of Friendship between 
Peoples to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.  Lukashenko 
ordered the award on June 2 by presidential edict in recognition of 
Lavrov's "considerable contribution to the strengthening of 
friendly relations and cooperation between Belarus and Russia, as 
well as to the formation of the [Belarusian-Russian] Union State." 
 
¶13.  Following a joint press conference after the summit, President 
Lukashenko, Armenian President Kocharian, Kazakh President 
Nazarbayev, Kyrgyz President Bakiyev, Uzbek President Karimov, and 
Russian President Putin left for Silichi, a new sports and 
recreation center 40 kilometers outside Minsk for what official 
sources called "no-necktie" talks.  Belarusian Television showed 
them clad in traditional Belarusian shirts. 
 
Putin's Reaction 
---------------- 
 
¶14.  Pro-Lukashenko media, such as the newspaper "Belarus Segodna," 
tended to highlight encounters between President Lukashenko and 
Russian President Vladimir Putin with footage and large color still 
photographs.  Putin publicly thanked Lukashenko for what he called 
his "big contribution" to the EAEC integration process.  He lauded 
the accession of Uzbekistan as an important step toward EAEC's 
merger with the Central Asian Cooperation Organization (CACO), 
which he predicted would yield a "serious positive effect."  Putin 
also called for establishing closer cooperation between the EAEC 
and the CSTO to protect the integration processes from various 
threats.  He predicted that the adoption of the concept of the 
EAEC's external activities would strengthen relations between the 
EAEC and other international organizations such as the CIS and the 
Shanghai Cooperation Organization. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶15.  As expected, the CSTO and EAEC Summits produced little 
concrete action or results.  Despite the rhetoric, the heads of 
state only agreed that economic, political, and military 
cooperation and integration are important and should be continued. 
 
MINSK 00000682  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
Interestingly, there was no state media coverage of possible 
separate talks between Presidents Putin and Lukashenko, which is 
unusual given Putin's rare visit to Minsk and the number of 
pressing bilateral issues.  This glaring hole in the media coverage 
raises the possibility that the two leaders did not meet separately 
or, if they did, they were unable to break the gridlock on such 
issues as gas prices for Belarus and/or Union State negotiations. 
The independent press highlighted Putin's apparent displeasure and 
boredom in particular with being forced to wear a traditional 
Belarusian shirt and straw hat. 
 
KROL