Putin’s business partners openly argue at top meetings

Summit near Saint Petersburg

An open argument breaks out during the meeting with Putin

Alexander Lukashenko deviates from the script at the Eurasian Economic Union meeting. Vladimir Putin watches the argument without moving.

At top meetings between Vladimir Putin and representatives of former Soviet republics, nothing is actually left to chance. When it comes to public broadcasts of the meetings, the carefully considered speeches are usually delivered strictly according to the schedule.

But at a meeting between Putin and heads of state and government from Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan on Thursday, there were clear disagreements, as the AP news agency reports. The members of the Eurasian Economic Union met in Saint Petersburg, although the Armenian representative, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, was not personally present. Because of a Covid infection, according to the report, he took part in the meeting via video link.

That, in turn, didn’t seem to sit well with Putin’s ally Alexander Lukashenko. He is currently the chairman of the Union. At the meeting, he called on Pashinyan to be personally present at the next meeting in Belarus. But he refused: he wanted to participate via video call. According to the AP, Lukashenko immediately demanded an explanation and even offered to pick up the prime minister on a Belarusian plane.

But Pashinyan pointed out that he had already made the decision to cool Armenian-Belarusian relations somewhat and was not currently planning any highly official visits. The background is Lukashenko’s support for Azerbaijan, Armenia’s main rival in the region.

Even when Pashinyan pointed out that this conference – and apparently the public broadcast – was not the right format for such a discussion, Lukashenko is said to have continued to complain. Both Putin and the other representatives sat there with stone faces.

But the dispute between Lukashenko and Pashinyan has another dimension. Armenia has recently tried to distance itself further from Russian influence and seek closer cooperation with Western states. In July 2024, the Kremlin warned Armenia against pursuing a “Ukrainian path” and expressed concerns about Armenia’s deeper cooperation with the EU.

In addition, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan expressed doubts about Russia’s role as the most important ally and questioned the effectiveness of the Russian security guarantee.

The Eurasian Economic Union was founded a decade ago to promote stronger business ties and facilitate trade among its members, but it has been increasingly marred by economic and other disagreements among members.