Russia and Eastern Europe

In a move that is likely to cause considerable irritation in Kiev, the Georgian Orthodox Church on Monday (7 June) hosted a delegation of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church that is loyal to the Moscow Patriarchate. Ilia II, the Georgian Orthodox Church Patriarch, and his locum tenens, Metropolitan Shio met the delegation led by Bishop Antony on Monday (7 June).

The government of Kazakhstan, in a statement issued on Saturday (5 June) rebuffed the idea of such a joint response raised last week by Russian deputy foreign minister Alexander Pankin who said that the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), which brings together Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan, was working on a “consolidated response” to Western sanctions against some of its members.

In an announcement on Friday (5 June), the Council of the European Union, which represents the 27 member states, said that it has decided to strengthen the existing restrictive measures in view of the situation in Belarus by introducing a ban on the overflight of EU airspace and on access to EU airports by Belarusian carriers of all kinds.

The Kremlin has provided some insights on the meeting between Russian president Vladimir Putin and his Belarussian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko, held in Sochi on Friday and Saturday  (28 - 29  May), saying that they focused on trade, economic relations and the fight against the pandemic. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Saturday that the incident with the Ryanair flight was also discussed.

The united European response to the brazen Belarusian snatching of an opposition figure from a commercial airplane of a European airline flying between two European capitals was swift and strong. Nothing dramatic will happen overnight as a result, but make no mistake about it, this was the opening shot of what is likely to be a long and messy war of attrition against Belarus that may last for years. On Belarus now, the EU's mind is set. The process will start and will be sustained.

The forced diversion by Belarus of a flight between two EU member states on Sunday (23 May) constitutes an act of international piracy at the heart of Europe. Under President Lukashenko, Belarus is now a pirate state, and must be treated like one. This will undoubtedly cause some pain to the Belarusian people who are not to blame for the recklessness of their leader, but this is now inevitable. 

Washington is against Nord Stream 2, but sanctions against the company are not in the national interest, The US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.