Lukashenka in search of match to Russian ‘ambassador of war’?


On September 4, Belarus Foreign Minister Uladzimir Makey submitted a list of candidates for the post of Ambassador in Russia to Alyaksandr Lukashenka. Their names and any other details have not been reported.

Ihar Petryshenka, who had been in office since 2012, was appointed deputy prime minister in late August.

“The president got familiar with the proposals on some candidates to the post of Ambassador of Belarus to Russia. The president welcomed some proposals but at the same time instructed to explore other options,” state-run news agency BelTA quotes the minister.

Makey and Lukashenka also raised the issue of Russia-Belarus relations.

“Given the fact that the both countries are trying to affirmatively approach to the current controversy and problems, I am sure that we will manage to overcome the difficulties that exist at the moment,” the minister said.

As reported earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree, appointing Presidential Envoy to the Volga Federal District Mikhail Babich as Russia’s Ambassador to Belarus and Special Presidential Envoy for Trade and Economic Cooperation with Belarus.

Mikhail Babich, 49 years old, is originally from Ryazan, he served in the Airborne Forces and the KGB, then in the FSB. From 1995 to 1998 he was the head of the corporation “Antey” in Moscow, which develops and manufactures weapons for the air defense forces. From November 2002 to February 2003, he headed the government of the Chechen Republic.

While working for Rosmyasomoltorg state-run company and as vice-governor of Ivanovo region, he was involved in a financial fraud scandal. According to Russian media, in 2001 the General Prosecutor’s Office even authorized the arrest, but all things came right for him in the end.

Analysts describe Babich as an energetic, tough-talk and and decisive person, who has the presidential confidence as well as good friends in the secret services.

After the dismissal of Mikhail Zurabov from the post of Russia’s Ambassador in Kyiv in July 2016, the Babich’s appointment was considered. However, the Ukrainian side opposed it. Among the reasons was the fact that in 2014 Babich supported the annexation of Crimea. Then the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said that ‘the question was removed from the agenda at the initiative of the Ukrainian side’.

According to experts in Kyiv, Babich, who is connected with the Soviet KGB and the Russian FSB, could become the ‘ambassador of war’, that he is a ‘professional saboteur’ and a ‘classic candidate for the Kremlin to work with separatists in Donbas to organize force operations’.

belsat.eu

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