Russia's War Against Ukraine
OP-ED
Grigory Ioffe: New trade war erupts between Russia and Belarus
A buyer walks past shelves displaying sweets and chocolate at a supermarket in Minsk, Belarus on Sept. 15, 2014.
"We are beginning the new year without any problems whatsoever, even small ones, in our relations as we have settled them all," President Alyaksandr Lukashenka observed as recently as November 18, while receiving Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (Svaboda, November 28). Yet, barely nine days later, Lukashenka disgorged an avalanche of curses directed at Russia - such harsh criticism of Russia had not been uttered by Belarusian authorities since the two countries’ conflict over oil tariffs in 2010.
