Russia, Belarus up war of words as rift widens

By Denis Dyomkin

MOSCOW (Reuters) - The rift between Russia and Belarus deepened on Sunday when Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko snubbed a security summit in Moscow in protest at Russia's "trade war" against his nation.

Ties between the former Soviet republics have been strained since 2007. Minsk is angry at rising prices for Russian gas and Moscow by Lukashenko's growing overtures to the West.

Lukashenko was due at a summit of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO), which groups Russia, Belarus, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan.

But he pulled out after Moscow banned one of Belarus's key exports, dairy products, on health grounds. Moscow often uses trade bans to put political pressure on neighbouring states.

Belarus's Foreign Ministry said Minsk could not join efforts to consolidate military and political security while "Belarus's economic security was being openly undermined".

Stressing Belarus's heavy reliance on Russia, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said: "Belarus consumes significant Russian financial resources" and 93 percent of its meat and milk exports are bound for Russia.

At a news briefing after the summit, Medvedev rapped Lukashenko for failing to act "as a true partner".

"In such a situation, it would not be a bad idea to ... make a phone call," he said. "Alexander Grigoryevich Lukashenko did not call me and did not say that he did not plan to come."